Kate's Dream
by Birchwood29
Summary: Kate Weasley has the same dream over and over. As she delves deeper into it, she finds things about herself she'd rather not know. Full Summary Inside
1. Chapter 1

**Full Summary: Kate Weasley has the same dream over and over. As she delves deeper into it, she finds things about herself she'd rather not know. She discovers that her parents aren't perfect as well as a terrible secret she wished she never knew. She wished she could put it back and never think of it again, but the more she tries to forget about it, the more it haunts at her mind.**

Nervously, she adjusted the small hat on her head. Her long, wavy red hair reluctantly settled under the pressing black weight. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute against her throat making her feel uneasy for the seventh time that day.

The first had been understandable, as she had almost missed the train. She would have died if she had showed up holding Hermione's hand and looking as though she couldn't bear to leave her home. That would have been mortifying for the eleven year old.

Now, however, as she stared at the giant doors before her and listed, quite reluctantly to the talking around her, she could not settle the unease in her stomach.

"As I was saying," the girl next to her prattled on, "I don't think that the 'test' is going to necessarily be that hard. I'm quite confident that I'll be able to do anything they ask me to do. Perhaps, however, I should brush up on _Accio_. I can't quite get the handle of it, you know?"

The was an expectant pause.

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh, forgive me," the girl gave her a giant smile. "I'm October."

"Oh, hello." A hand was suddenly thrust in her face and begrudgingly, she accepted. "I'm Kate."

"Why, hello, Kate." The girl in front of her studied her for a moment more before giving her a comfortable smile. "My brother's told me just yesterday that the test is quite awful. I was instructed to brush up on some protection spells…"

Kate looked away quickly, swallowing with some difficulty. No one had warned her of any such thing. Ron and Hermione hadn't interrupted when Max started going off about it. They hadn't said how much it was going to hurt.

"Oh, that's hogwash!"

Kate turned sharply to see a boy with brown hair and amazingly blue eyes staring back at her.

"And you are?" October interrupted.

He seemed to hesitate as though his boldness was a bit impulsive. "Samuel," he replied slowly. "Longbottom. Samuel Longbottom."

"October Lupin," October said, sticking out her hand again. "And this is Kate…"

"Weasley," Kate said after a second. She had a feeling that October was going to be hard to shake off. "Kate Weasley."

Samuel nodded as though he agreed with the name.

"If everyone could please come and stand by the door," a stern voice interrupted. All the soon-to-be-first-years turned sharply and stared at the young man standing in the doorway. A few gasps and an excited buzz soon began to flow throughout the room.

"That's Harry Potter!" October hissed into Kate's ear. She threw her a contemptuous look and rolled her eyes. She could very well see who was standing in front of them, frown out, gazing most disgustedly around the room.

Almost without her knowing, Kate put a hand to her head and nervously adjusted the hat once again. Two years ago the school changed the dress code. The skirts, once plain black, were to resemble which house you had been accepted into. Kate desperately wished that by the end of the night she would go back to a dorm and find twelve crisp, neatly folded red and gold skirts waiting for her.

The small hat on their heads was only required for the opening feast. As of right now she was dressed in the original uniform: black shirt, black sweater, crisp, white shirt and stockings.

"In line, all of you!" Potter barked at them.

They all obeyed instantly. No one dared go against him. This was, after all, the man who helped defeat Voldemort.

Kate remembered her older siblings talking about such a fight.

"I was there," Max boasted proudly. Madelyn rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "Well, I was!" Max said indignantly.

"You were about this big," Maddie snapped, holding her fingers an inch apart. "You were hardly there."

"Whatever," Max snapped and turned his attention back on Kate. "Anyway, back to the fight-"

"Which you were at," Maddie injected, sarcastically.

"Right," Max snarled. "They say that Harry Potter went in completely determined. There were hundreds of people at the battlefield and hardly any of them survived." Kate stared at Max, completely in awe of what he was saying. "Some say that Harry Potter lost his innocence, or what was left of it, that night. He completely pulled away from his friends and mum and dad and grandma and grandpa and moved out into the woods and didn't talk to anybody. Mum said he died that night, though his body was forced to go on living."

Those words rang in Kate's ears as she felt herself staring down Harry Potter. His eyes rested on a spot two inches above her head and her breath hitched in her throat. They passed over her indifferently and swiftly swept across the room. Kate couldn't help the small swoop of disappointment she felt as she begrudgingly let her eyes fall down on her shoes.

"He's a bit intense, huh?" October said.

Kate nearly jumped, completely unaware of the girl's overpowering presence.

"Jeez," the girl sniffed. "You know, he was in the Order with my mum and my dad."

Kate turned to her and gave her a look that quite simply said, "So?"

"Dad used to teach him, too," October said matter-of-factly.

Kate turned to October and frowned.

"Your dad is Remus Lupin?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah!" October said proudly. "Do you know him?"

"My mum and dad were in the Order, too," Kate said, nonchalantly. "Ron and Hermione Weasley."

"Whoa," October whispered. "Get out of here! Then you must know Harry Potter? My dad said that his friends were inseparable!"

Kate sighed. She had heard of that, too. However, apparently whatever glue held their friendship together ripped apart during the War. Hermione had also told her that after her aunt, Ginny died, Harry Potter, who had been recovering, had slunk further into himself. She said he never came out of it and found it too painful to even see the Weasley's anymore. He accepted a job at Hogwarts against his best wishes, however McGonagall sort of forced him into it. "He had really loved your aunt," Hermione had whispered, stroking Kate's hair. "I think he misses her the most."

Now as Kate looked over at Harry, she couldn't really see how anyone could love him back. He seemed mean and bitter.

"Not anymore," Kate said hastily, quieting down as Harry led them into the room with the rest of the school. She scanned around and immediately found her older brother and sister.

They didn't look like her, not really. She could see some similarities between them, but that was the end of it. They all had bright red hair, while Kate's was a deep maroon color. Madelyn had her mother's brown eyes, while Max had received his father's blue. Kate's however were a deep, murky olive brown. Sometimes people didn't even know they were related.

When Kate was younger her brother and sister would tease her that someone tossed her in the trash and Hermione and Ron had plucked her out and given her a home.

"Oh, don't be so foolish," Ron has said dismissively. "Here." He went to a desk drawer and sifted through it. "Aha! There we are." He extracted her birth certificate and handed it to her. "See for yourself."

Kate had taken it and read it carefully.

_Katharine Aurora Weasley. Born April 11, 2001. Parents: Ronald B. Weasley and Hermione J. Granger. Time of Birth: 6:00pm. Weight: 9 lbs, 4 oz._

She glanced up at Ron and smiled.

"Alright, I'm yours."

"Damn straight," Ron said, kissing the top of her head.

Kate met her sisters eye and saw her Weasley smile light up her face.

"Who're you staring at?" October asked nosily.

"My older sister," Kate replied.

"Ooh, she's pretty," October said, glancing at her. "Do you have any other siblings?"

"Yes, a brother," Kate whispered and pointed him out.

"Well, he's dishy, isn't he?" Kate turned to her incredulously.

"I wouldn't have any idea!" Kate hissed. "Shh!"

They both turned and waited for their names to be called.

"October Lupin," Harry called, gesturing to the stool to his right.

"Wish me luck," October whispered and weaved her way through the crowd.

"Luck," Kate whispered.

She noticed Samuel sitting nervously among the other Gryffindors at their table. He chewed on a nail nervously.

A while later, just as Kate was beginning to believe they would never get to her name, she heard it being called.

"Weasley, Kate!"

She started forward and walked past the Wi's and the Wu's and the Z's and took her place on the stool. The hat slipped over her eyes and all was silent. The soft chatter and whispers instantly disappeared.

"Oh, _another _Weasley!" the hat exclaimed. "I believe you are the seventh Weasley I've had in the past five years!"

Kate felt herself blush.

"Oh…but not all Weasley," the hat whispered. It seemed as though it were a bit surprised. Kate wondered what the hat was going to say about her mother. "I've nothing really to say about your mother. A bit ditsy, though unbelievably stubborn. I can see that a lot in you, Miss Weasley. And bravery, much like your father…also…a need to prove yourself to your siblings…to show them that you really belong. I know where to put you, indeed. GRYFFINDOR!"

Kate's ears rung. She stood up a bit light-headed and turned towards Harry Potter. His smile never came close to his eyes.

"Take a seat," he said not unkindly, stretching out his hand for the hat. Kate took it off her head and handed it to him, beaming.

Not only had she become the third and final Gryffindor, but the hat had said she was like her parents, which was all she ever wanted.

She happily sat next to her sister and next to her brother, each of them beaming with pride as their little sister joined their table.

Kate chatted happily with October, who despite her best efforts to shake her off, was slowly growing on Kate.

"Well, I have a younger sister, Artemis. She's nine right now. And an older brother." She took a swig of her pumpkin juice and pointed to a boy down the row eating and chatting with friends.. "Dad is taking care of us now, allowing mum to go off and work. She's an Auror, you know."

Kate smiled politely, not sure of what to say. Her father was a Quidditch player and she wasn't quite sure what Hermione did. She never spoke of work at home and had forbid her children to ask of it.

It wasn't until dessert that Kate finally glanced up at the long teacher's table.

There was old McGonagall, who Maddie pointed out.

"Careful of her," she had warned. "She's gotten a bit crazy in her old age."

Old professor Flitwick still had his place at the table alongside the giant Hagrid.

"He was a friend of mum and dad's," Max informed her. "He's gonna love you, though. Don't get him angry, he'll eat you up." A look of panic flashed across Kate's face and Maddie slapped his arm.

"He's lying," she said, directing her glare at her brother. "Don't mind him. Hagrid is a sweetie."

Kate nodded, deciding to believe her sister rather than her brother. She scanned the line of faces and stopped on Harry Potter. He was bent over his plate, slicing something up. As though he felt eyes on him, his head snapped up and his eyes locked with hers.

Sixteen year old Kate Weasley woke with a gasp, her entire body drenched with sweat. She wiped her upper lip and took a deep breath. It was the dream again.

She laid back down on her bed and struggled to breathe regularly again. Her heart was beating too fast into her chest.

Ever since her first day at Hogwarts she had the same dream. Her mother said all dreams had a meaning. She believed her mother. "Sometimes your mind tries to go back and tell you something. Maybe there was something you wanted to remember but couldn't," Hermione said, shrugging. "Anything unusual?"

"No," Kate answered, frowning. "Same old stuff. I wish my brain would pinpoint exactly what it wanted me to know!"

"That," Hermione said knowingly, "would be too simple." She popped a grape into her mouth and chewed steadily.

Kate shook her head and rolled over onto her side. She pushed her loose ends away from her eyes and tried to sleep in the stifling heat of the room. It was impossible to fall asleep now.

"Oh, for goodness sakes!" Kate snapped at her ceiling, turning onto her back and crossing her arms moodily. She had fallen into her bed, utterly exhausted only two hours ago. Had she known her mind was going to be plagued with that particular dream, she would have been sure to take notes.

Outside she heard the soft voices of her parents out on the porch. She slowly got out of bed and crept over to her window, leaning on the sill and watching them dance to the music in their heads. She smiled to herself and wished for the millionth time in her life that she would find someone who would love her as much as her father adored her mother. She had never met any two people more in love, save for her grandparents.

There was a soft knock on her door and she turned sharply.

"Come in," she whispered, reluctantly getting off the sill and going over to the door, opening it. "Hey." Her sister stood in her bathrobe and glasses. Her red hair was in two braids on either side of her face.

"Is this heat not the pits?" Eighteen year old Madelyn Weasley traipsed into her sisters room and collapsed on the bed. "I think I'm going to suffocate."

"Take your bathrobe off," Kate suggested, moving over to the other side of the bed.

"Well, look at you!" Madelyn declared, pointing at Kate's sweat drenched wife-beater. "Your in a tank and still sweating balls."

"Oh, very eloquent," Kate snapped, not feeling like sharing her dream with her sister. She knew by the end of her little visit, however, that Madelyn would know everything. "I had it again. That dream."

"Oh, the one where Benji Braddock is running around the pitch in his starkers?"

"No," Kate said, sighing. "The one about my first day at Hogwarts. You know, the one in the Great Hall. When I got sorted and all through dinner."

"Right, that one," Madelyn said thoughtfully, "I wonder why."

"Wish I could tell you," Kate said moodily. "I've been having it ever since."

"And it's always the same dream? Over and over?"

"Not a bit of change."

"Interesting. Have you told mum about it?"

"Of course," Kate said, sighing. "She always tells me the same thing. 'Don't worry about it-'"

" 'Dreams always sort themselves out,'" Kate and Madelyn said in unison. They giggled. "Mum's right, though," Madelyn said confidently. "She's always right."

"True," Kate said, frowning. "Wonder what Max is up to."

"Oh, let's not bother with him, shall we?" Madelyn said. "He's still not over that ditsy bitch."

"Really, Maddie, she was a pretty nice person-"

"Ha! She ripped his heart out and squirted the blood all over the streets. That girl was nothing short of a monster."

"I never really liked her," Kate confessed. "I didn't like her hair-"

"Oh, yeah! The ugly pasty color of it? And her boobs!"  
"Definitely fake," Kate agreed.

"Poor Max, though. She had him pussy-whipped from the moment they met-"

"You know, if you're going to gossip about me, mind not doing it at one in the morning with the door open and at the top of your voices?" Twenty year old Max Weasley snapped from the doorway. Madelyn giggled wildly into a pillow, while Kate felt a guilty flush come over her cheeks.

"Sorry, Max," she said.

"Yeah, sorry, Max," Madelyn crowed, still giggling. "Come sit with us. Talk. Gossip."

"I'd rather light myself on fire, thank you," Max snapped, walking out of the doorway towards his room.

"That can be arranged!" Madelyn cried, leaning back to watch his retreating back. "What a moody git he's been lately! So touchy! We can't even joke anymore."

"We were being a bit mean," Kate said, always the diplomat.

"Oh, forget that, Little Sister," Madelyn said. "He's a brat."

Kate giggled and leaned against her pillow, pulling her stuffed bear against her chest.

"How does it feel?" Kate asked.

"What?"

"Being out of school."

"Brilliant! Though, mum and dad could not be more up my ass about getting a decent job and settling down, blah, blah, blah."

"They want what's best for you-"

"Dad plays Quidditch for a living and mum won't say exactly what she does. For all we know she's the woman who cleans the train station loo."

Kate snorted. "I'm sleepy."

"Oh, thank goodness, I thought I was going to have to make small talk all night long."

"Good night, Mad," Kate said softly. Madelyn smiled and looked out of her window where the soft light from the wicker candles were burning outside.

"Night, little sister."

Kate settled back into her bed, bear firmly against her chest. She sighed and took her glasses off of her head and placed them on her bedside table.

She wondered what it was about that dream that caused her to wake every night in sweat.

A/N Please read and review. This story is months and months in the making. I have perfectly set up the entire plot. I really hope you enjoy it.


	2. Chapter 2

The door to his office firmly closed, Remus Lupin hesitated. He had learned long ago that bothering Harry without an immediate problem to be solved, was not the smartest idea.

He raised his hand to knock and hastily brought it down, losing his confidence. What, exactly, would there to be said to Harry Potter? That he just wanted to chat?

Knocking quickly, Remus stepped back, allowing the door to open. Harry looked tired and worn and a little agitated to be bothered so early in the morning.

"Yes?"

"Hello, Harry, may I come in?"

There wasn't an answer. Harry simply stepped aside and allowed Remus to walk into the dimly lit room. A fire was crackling in the corner and, though it was ninety degrees outside the castle, it was a bone chilling forty degrees in the room (or so Remus guessed).

He shivered and brought his robes close against his arms.

"Cold?" Harry asked, striding over to the windows and drawing the long, heavy drapes back, revealing a breath-taking view of the small village of Hogsmede.

Remus squinted and stepped out of the way of the unforgiving light.

"A bit," he admitted.

"Is there something the matter? The kids? The wife?"

"No, everyone's healthy," Remus said.

Harry nodded, though he didn't look very interested. He was at his desk, sifting through his papers, looking for one in particular.

"So, why the visit?"

"Can't I come to see you?"

"I suppose," Harry replied evenly. "I wouldn't see why, though. I've heard I'm not the best company." He handed Remus the paper he had been looking for. "She has very good penmanship."

Remus glanced down at O his oldest daughter received on her last essay (the one Harry had given them to be handed in, to be delivered via owl, by July 1st). He couldn't suppress a grin from spreading across his face.

"Artemis on the other hand-"

"That's not why I came here, Harry," Remus interrupted. Harry raised his eyes to Remus's and nodded.

"Then why are you here?" he asked coldly.

Remus wasn't sure how to explain it to him without getting hexed all the way back to London. The truth of the matter is that since Harry was eighteen years old and had asked Remus to stay away, Remus had done so. They hadn't spoke in a number of years, about four now.

Tonks had come home a few nights ago, fuming mad. She had discovered that Harry and he were not in constant letter-tag, as he had claimed.

Although he hadn't exactly lied (his letters were sent out and Harry always did send them back), Tonks was still so furious she promised him that he would be spending his nights on the couch in the den unless he made amends and spoke to Harry.

True to her word, that same night when he went to go lay in bed, it flung him out into the hall. The door shut and sealed. He was forced to go to the den couch and sleep. As he was too big for it, it was not a comfortable night at all.

As he surveyed Harry, he quickly measured his words.

"Well?" Harry snapped.

"I came to speak to you," Remus began cautiously, "on the suggestion from Tonks."

Harry's frown cleared and he came Remus a contemptuous look. "Well, wasn't that _so _sweet to think of me? I should like to thank her next time I see her."

"And when exactly would that be?" Remus snapped. "I don't believe you've seen her in six years! Or has it been longer? Eight, perhaps? Ten? Twelve? How long, Harry?"

There was no answer.

Remus took a moment to calm down. "I just thought-"  
"What did you just think? That I would come running back to everyone? That I could just-" He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "That I could just forget everything that happened?"  
"It wasn't anyone's fault, Harry!"

"I've never blamed anyone, Lupin!"

"The hell you haven't!" Remus bellowed. "You blame yourself for everything! The War, Dumbledore's death, Malfoy, your parents-You blame Ron and Hermione for what happened to Ginny-"

"Don't you talk about her, you here me? Don't you dare say her name in front of me!" Harry was suddenly on his feet, his eyes wild.

Remus took a moment for Harry to calm down.

"It wasn't your fault, Harry, nothing was your fault!"

Harry didn't answer.

"I messed up," he snarled. "I made a stupid mistake! The…ultimate mistake."

"It could have happened to anyone-"

"Not me," Harry snapped. "Not me. I should have been more careful….I should have realized. I can't…I just can't, alright?"

Remus nodded. He watched Harry for a moment before turning sharply and striding out of the room, shutting the door on his friend, his family.

Harry sat in his chair for a moment, his breathing erratic and uncontrollable. How dare Lupin come here and speak to him so! As though he was expected to put it all behind him and forget everything that happened to him! How dare they do that to him!

He slumped against the chair and closed his eyes. For the first time in almost nineteen years he allowed himself to think about what happened. He allowed his mind to go back, to return to the night it happened.

OooooooooO

It had been slow for weeks. There were no attacks, no sightings, nothing. It made everyone nervous. Harry had been pacing the floor of Headquarters, Sirius's old home. His thumb had been about gnawed off when a crack to his left sounded.

"Well?" Harry asked before he even turned around.

"There's definitely going to be an attack." It was the voice of Draco Malfoy. Although it had taken a lot of persuasion from almost everyone, Harry had finally realized that Malfoy could be of some use to him. He had an Unbreakable Vow with him, allowing him to work for them but never to reveal their secrets and, most importantly, not to betray them.

"Where?" Harry barked.

"Some muggle neighborhood outside of London," Malfoy said. "It's where the Mu-Hermione lives."

Harry's head snapped around sharply and he stared hard at Malfoy. "Fine," he said, frowning. "Go get everyone. Let everyone know and have them meet me there."  
"Should you go out alone? What if-"  
"Just go!" Harry snapped.

"I don't know where the new Headquarters is!" Malfoy fired back.

Harry paused and reached for a quill and paper. He scribbled down the address and the password. "Make sure you read it before stepping inside."

"Sure thing," Malfoy said giving Harry a smile. "Well, I'll be off now." Harry nodded and made for his wand. "Oh, and," Malfoy said. Harry looked up. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Harry disappeared.

As he arrived at the sight of the forthcoming attack he immediately saw that something was off. He frowned and glanced around, completely perplexed. Had Malfoy gotten the wrong address?

"Shit," Harry swore, looking around. He was completely stunned. Was there some way he could have betrayed them? How? He would have been killed, right?

As fast as he could, Harry tried to Disapparate. He tried for several times before he realized someone had placed a charm over the hood of the neighborhood. He would be able to leave magically. He had been sent into a trap.

He started off in a run that soon turned into a sprint as he realized he had given Malfoy the address to where everyone was. They would be sitting ducks, completely unprepared for an attack.

His mind raced as he sped off down the street. What would he find when he got there? Would there be anyone left? Anyone still alive?

As he got to the old, run down neighborhood, he saw the Dark Mark hovering over a giant lot, where the house was magically hiding. He nearly stopped, nearly panicked. With a strength deep down inside of him, he quickly strode up to the edge of the lawn.

"Tabby cat," he whispered. The house began to appear. As the door come into view Harry grabbed the handle and turned it. It opened with a creak and revealed a dark hallway.

Using all the remaining strengths he had, Harry quickly stepped inside. The light from the outside did nothing to illuminate the dim settings of the hideout.

As he came around to the kitchen, nothing seemed wrong. He almost would have thought that no one was home if it hadn't been Ron and Hermione's second anniversary party tonight. They were expecting their second child.

The banner over the kitchen archway read: Congrats, you guys!

Harry swallowed hard, his entire body pulsing with adrenalin. He that something was off. Something had gone wrong. They had already been here…or, they were still here. Somewhere.

He walked along the hallway silently. He almost walked right past the meeting room, but his show had landed on something that crunched under his feet. He stopped and looked down. It appeared to be a small chunk of glass.

His hand deftly reached for the meeting room door and he slid it open to reveal complete destruction. He stepped inside.

The table had been blown to pieces. Papers were strewn across the room. A window was completely shattered. The walls were littered with scorch marks from misaimed spells.

Who was here? Who had been here? Who was still alive? Who was hurt? Ron? Hermione? Mrs. Weasley? Ginny?

He couldn't think of anything but her face as he stepped out of the room.

"I'm so glad you could make it." It was the silky-smooth tones of Draco Malfoy. "We really appreciate it, Potter."

"You bastard," Harry snarled, turning towards the voice. "Where are they?"  
"I'm sure I haven't the slightest idea who you're talking about," Malfoy said, look unconcerned.

"Where are they?" Harry repeated. He raised his wand for an attack, but it froze feet from Malfoy.

"Up-bup-bup," he parroted. "That isn't very sportsmanship-like, is it? Hexing me completely out of the blue like that."

"How did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Avoid the Unbreakable Vow."

"Oh, Potter, are you really that daft? Haven't you seen it yet? Must we explain EVERYTHING to you? Honestly, this is the man we all expect to save the world. He can't even see when he's been led into a trap."

Harry glared at the person before him.

"Just a moment now," Malfoy whispered, his eyes dancing in the moonlight. He was look at the clock. Suddenly it struck twelve midnight and Malfoy's face began to change. It become longer and aged and he grew an inch or so.

No longer was he the Malfoy Harry had been in school with, who had been entrusted by the Order. It was now Lucius Malfoy who stood before him.

"Versatrium," he said simply, brushing off the sleeves of his clothing. "I must say, I thought a little more persuasion on your part would have occurred. Luckily for me, though, it hasn't."

"Where are they?"

"Dead."

OooooooooooO

Harry Potter awoke with a gasp. His body was shaking and his cheeks were wet. He hastily brushed aside the tears and got up, suppressing the urge to burst everything in his room.

McGonagall had expressed her deepest wishes that he no longer do that anymore. Not after last time when a reporter snuck into school dressed like a student and started asking students what it was like to be taught by the 'great Harry Potter' or how Harry felt so many years later.

Reluctantly Harry sat back down and grabbed a pile of essays he wanted to get graded. He rubbed his eyes under his glasses and slowly started the work of meticulously crushing every student's hope for an O.

"Rubbish," he snapped, throwing a paper onto the stack of graded papers. Complete crap. He snatched the next paper and began reading.

As a surprise to him, it was a bit amusing. The author had made a few interesting comments and certainly seemed to have a lot of confidence as a writer. He never looked at the names before reading an essay, lest he have an opinion of what he was reading already.

When he got to the end of the paper he mulled over it for a moment before deciding to give out his only O that day. O's in Harry Potter's classes were rare and dearly coveted. October Lupin was known for charming the pants off of him when it came down to essays. She couldn't defend herself if her life depended upon it (and it did), but her written words were perfect bliss to Harry.

When he looked up at the name he felt a cold, sinking feeling in the bottom of his stomach. Kate Weasley's name was proudly printed across the top of the paper.

He angrily tossed it aside and onto the floor.

He had not spoke to Ron and Hermione in over ten years. There had been a point in his life when the thought of not speaking with Ron and Hermione was completely painful. Now, however, it hardly ever crossed his mind. It make a bearable separation.

After a moment he picked it up, dipped his quill in some ink and angrily slashed an A across the top of the paper. Satisfied he moved on to the other papers.

OoooooooO

Miles away, Kate Weasley was just waking. After struggling to fall asleep after her sister left the room, she had tossed and turned all night, until three a.m. when a drought her mother kept in the bathroom finally did it's job.

"Kate Weasley, come down and get some breakfast before it gets cold! I mean it young lady, there won't be any left for you!"

Kate groaned and pulled the pillow over her head. The sunlight was giving her headaches and she didn't really want to get up yet. She was quite content under the pillow.

Kate!" Hermione bellowed. "Down. Now!"

She rolled out of bed, landing hard on her knees. Grumbling angrily she stomped down the stairs and into the sun-filled kitchen.

"Thank you," Hermione said, handing her a dish of food. Madelyn was already sitting down, moodily chewing her way through some pancakes. The tension in the room was evident. Hermione never so much as glanced at her eldest daughter, nor did Madelyn pay any attention to her mother.

After Hermione exited the room, heading towards the bathroom, Kate turned to Madelyn curiously. She nudged her sister, only to receive a glare.

"Are you two still fighting about your grades?"

"Yup," Madelyn snapped. "Apparently nine of them weren't enough for Hermione, oh no, she expected twelve of them from me. Absolutely ridiculous, isn't it? I can not even begin to fathom what kind of person can't be happy that her daughter gets nine O.W.Ls? Seriously."

"Oh," Kate said, scrunching up her face. "It isn't like that and you know it."

"Yeah," she replied, "well, she sure doesn't show any kind of support for me."

"Mad, you told them last week you wanted to be a back-up dancer for Circe. You should have known they were bound to react just a little bit, now didn't you?"

"Yes," Madelyn replied sheepishly. "I only said so to push mum's buttons, but really, she just went off on me for _ages _it never ended."

"Dad didn't seem to mind," Kate pointed out thoughtfully. "He might be the one to lean on for support, even if he acts as though he doesn't like the idea."  
"Yes, well, dad is a Quidditch player. He isn't exactly the greatest scholar in the world, either."

"True," Kate conceded. "Very true."

OooooooooooO

Hermione Granger-Weasley silently fumed as she folded the clothes the Muggle way. She couldn't believe Madelyn. Wasn't she the least bit concerned for her future? God knew it was all Hermione worried about. Max hadn't exactly been much to worry about. He got good grades, missed only one O.W.L and had a steady job.

After falling out with his girlfriend he had moved back in with them after she cursed the door handles and charmed the doors to lock at the sight of him.

Hermione sighed and leaned her head against the laundry room cupboards.

_Well, at least I've still Kate to look forward too, _Hermione thought to herself. And it was true. As of yet, Kate showed all signs of being a straight O student, as she had gotten them from the moment she stepped foot into the school.

Hermione picked up the clothes basket and walked over to the den couch. She set the basket down on the floor and flopped onto the couch. As she thought of Kate, her sleepless night pouring over a report and the stifling heat caused her to slowly drift off.

She dreamt of the day Kate was born.

"_Hermione, darling, you can do this, it's going to be okay," Ron was saying into her ear, holding onto his hand as though he were petrified to let go. Her entire body was racking with pain. She let out a scream and held onto her head. _

"_What's going on?" she sobbed. Neither the other pregnancies had been this tough, nevertheless this absolutely painful. _

_She closed her eyes. When she opened them she turned towards Ron, seeing only a blurred vision of him. _

"_I think there's something wrong with the baby, Ron," she whispered to him, slowly starting to panic. He shook his head wildly. _

"_There isn't anything wrong," he snapped. "It's just a bit more painful this time."_

"_A _bit _more painful is it?" Hermione snarled. "Well, thank you so much for your input. What would I do without you? Oh, besides not have the immense pain literally in my ass."_

_Ron rolled his eyes. "I'm a pain in your ass?"_

"_Let's not fight, shall we?" Hermione snapped as another contraction rippled through her. "Where's Ginny?" _

"_Down the hall."_

"_What about-?"_

"_With your mother-"_

"_Mrs. Weasley-?"_

"_Granger-Weasley," Hermione corrected. _

"_Yes, pardon, Mrs. Granger-Weasley? Hello, I'm Medi-Witch Klarke. I'm going to be delivering your baby tonight."_

"_Oh, hello."_

"_Now, I'm going to need you to push when I tell you too, alright?"_

"_Yes."_

_An hour of pushing later Hermione was about to pass out. She was utterly exhausted and it just plain old HURT. _

"_One more good push and you're going to have a baby, Hermione," the doctor called from over the blue sheet. Hermione was too tired and the doctor saw this. "Talk to me, Hermione. What are you gonna name her?"_

"_Kate," Ron and Hermione said together._

"_Do this for Kate, Hermione," the doctor said looking right into her eyes. "She's counting on you."_

_Hermione let out a sob and sat up, gripping her husband's hand. She pushed with all her might, willing the baby to get out. _

_There was an immense relief from within her and the doctor cried, "It's a girl!"_

OoooooooO

Hermione sat up as though startled and held her head. She hadn't thought of the day Kate was born in a very, very long time.


	3. Chapter 3

The dream returned for Kate that night. It was the same scene. The before, the during and the after of the ceremony in which the hat spoke to her. She woke at the same time as well. The instant her eyes touched Harry's she burst out of the dream, gasping for reality.

Something had been different. Just what, she was unsure of.

What in the world could be so damn important that her subconscious forced her to relive it over and over again? What was it that happened that night that she was missing, unable to see?

She sank back into the pillows, fuming. That's it, she snarled to herself, I'm done. I no longer care what it was that happened. Who the hell cares? It's over and done with.

And with that, she slowly sank back into sleep. As she was dosing off, her eyelids becoming increasingly heavier, a sudden thought occurred to her.

Hermione wasn't ditsy.

OooooooooO

Madelyn's room was all the way down the hall on the left. It took Kate only a second to dash there, but it seemed longer. She had to stop herself from shouting: "I've figured it out, Maddie! I know what's bothering me!"

She didn't bother knocking, as she was sure Madelyn was still fast asleep. Sure enough the sound of snores tumbled around the silence of the bedroom when Kate entered.

"Mad," Kate hissed, creeping over to her bed and poking her arm. The snores hesitated and quickly resumed as Madelyn went back to sleep. "Madelyn," Kate repeated, poking her hard in the arm.

"What?" Madelyn barked, "and it had better be good."

"I know what's been bothering me about my dream! I know why I can't stop thinking about that night!"

"Oh?" Madelyn asked, unconcerned and uninterested. "Is that so? Well, then, bully for you."

"Madelyn, listen to me!" Kate whined.

Madelyn grumbled loudly but sat up like a good girl and wiped the sleep from her eyes. "You have my undivided attention," she announced.

"In my dream I plop the hat on my head and it starts talking to me," Kate began. "I hadn't even really noticed anything was different until tonight when I had the dream again."

"What was different?"

"Nothing, really, I just thought of something I had never thought of. Usually I can hardly remember what the hate is saying to me, but now I figured out what it was!"

"What?"

"It said that mum was ditsy! Mum is the least ditsiest person I know!"

"The hat is old, Kate," Madelyn reasoned. "It probably got you mixed up with someone else, that's all. Now, go to bed. I have a job interview in the morning-"

"But-"

"Bed! Now! Be gone from my sight!" Madelyn flopped back against her pillows dramatically and rolled over, away from Kate, who sighed heavily and left the room.

She was walking down the hallway when she noticed that a soft glow was coming from the outside of her brother's room. She stopped and knocked on the door.

"Erm, yes? What is it?"

"It's Kate," she replied, and waited.

"Oh, alright, come in."

Kate pushed the door open.

Of her two siblings she was most alike to her brother. The two of them were both quiet and studious, focusing on their school work rather than their pairs. Being left alone without company was always a blessing. They had taken after Hermione the most. Madelyn was definitely channeling her father in that she couldn't sit still, she was loud, popular, outgoing, friendly, gorgeous. She had everything and didn't need books when she had looks, or as she so often stated to her mother. While Kate and Max had been planning Ministry jobs since they were in diapers, Madelyn was always thinking outside the box. She was obsessed with being famous.

"Hey, what's up?" Max asked, hastily shoving something into the drawer of his desk. He gave Kate a nervous smile.

"Nothing," she said, sitting down on his bed, staring subtly at the desk drawer. "I just had that dream again."

"Ah," Max said knowingly. Everyone in the Weasley household was well aware of the dream that regularly plagued Kate's sleep. She had been having the same dream for almost five years now.

"I realized something tonight," she continued, fiddling with a whole in her pajama pants. "The hat said that mum had been ditsy."

"Ditzy?" Max repeated, looking thoughtful. "That's odd."  
"Indeed," Kate agreed, staring hard at him. "I think that may have been why I woke up. I'm not sure though. I can never remember it. I always forget by the time I'm fully awake." She shook her head. "It's so frustrating!"

"I can imagine," Max said. Kate turned to him curiously. Usually he wasn't so agreeable and tried to tell her that she was being a bit foolish and should be thinking logically. Kate always had crazy ideas for what her dream meant. Some of them were far-fetched, while others were more logical.

"What's your problem?" Kate snapped. "I usually have to fight with you for an hour before you see my point."

"Nothing's the matter," Max snapped, suddenly becoming more himself. "I was just trying to get you the hell out of my room."

"My, did I touch a nerve, perhaps?" Kate retorted. "I didn't realize you didn't want me in here. I'll just leave you then."

"Good," Max snapped, sitting back in his chair and raising his eyebrows at her. "Leaving?"

"Snob."

"Brat."

"'Night."

"'Night."

Kate slowly closed the door over, leaving it open just as slightly as she had found it. As she peered with interest through the crack she saw Max take a Muggle type writer out of his drawer, slide a fresh piece of paper in it and begin to type.

She shook her head and went back to her room. Probably a report for work, she told herself, climbing back into bed. Why then, had he been so secretive about it?

OooooooooO

"What a freak!" Madelyn exclaimed over breakfast the next morning.

"Keep it down, big mouth," Kate snapped and shook her head. "Don't be so loud!"

"Why was he hiding the type writer?" Madelyn asked thoughtfully. "Must be something he didn't want you to see."

"Oh, it was probably just a letter to You-Know-Who," Kate said.

"Probably," Madelyn agreed. The lines on her forehead cleared and she concentrated on her waffles. "Dad comes back, you know. Today. I think around one."

"Good, mum misses him," Kate said happily. "I can't wait to see what he bought from Bulgaria."

"Hopefully a single, yet dashingly handsome twenty-two year old Seeker his daughter could date for a little bit," Madelyn said sighing dreamily. "Could you imagine if he actually brought home Fletcher Howard? Oh, I'd just about die!"

Fletcher Howard was the newest Seeker for Ireland. He was red haired, green eyed, and, according to Madelyn, " Only the hottest man to roam the Earth!"

Kate shook her head. "What about Louis?"

"Boooring," Madelyn chorused. "I can not stand another minute of that boy! All he does is cling, cling, cling! 'Madelyn, where are you going?' 'Madelyn, why were you kissing Devon?' 'Madelyn where did you disappear to for an hour after the Seventh Year Ball?' I mean, come on! I'm young for cripes sake! Let me live!"

"Oh, my God, what a nightmare!" Kate cried sarcastically. "To think, a young, gorgeous boy had interest in you and you alone and only wanted to spend time with you! Does his mother knows how he acts? We should inform her to what a terror she has raised. Quick, before he sweet talks another girl into his web of patience and unwavering love."

"Look at that mood!" Madelyn snapped. She had been caught off guard by Kate's rare snip of sarcasm. She had always been pretty straight forward in everything she had said. "He's just…." She broke off, shrugging.

"Yeah," Kate said, knowing what her sister said without her having to do so. The front door opened and closed again. "Dad?"

Silence.

"Dad?" Madelyn called.

Nothing.

"Hello?" Kate called, getting up from the table and walking over to the front window. She watched her brother's retreating back walking down the yard. She followed him with her eyes until he turned off down the road. He had something in his hand, something she couldn't make out.

"Where's he going?" Madelyn demanded from behind Kate, causing her to jump and spin around. "Sorry," Madelyn said, not looking at Kate but focusing on Max as he walked down the yard. "Why is he so secretive all of a sudden?"

"I don't know," Kate said, shrugging. "Probably because she broke up with him. He's really bummed about it you know."

"I know," Madelyn said snorting. "Who knew that she would leave him for his best friend? Sucks for him, though. They'll all get over it, though. I'm just glad someone came and took her away from this family."

"Madelyn, she broke up friends!"

"Eh, so what? Did you really like Ronnie?"

"No," Kate grudgingly admitted. "Still."

"So you said he had a type writer up there?" Madelyn asked, edging towards the stairs.

"Yup," Kate said. She turned slowly towards her sister, realizing exactly what she meant. "Oh, Maddie, we couldn't," Kate whispered.

"And why not?" Madelyn reasoned. "What if he was planning on doing something stupid?"

"Like…?" Kate asked, waiting for an answer.

"Like quit his job here to move to America to be closer to that whore-sack. Or maybe he was writing us a suicide note."

"Don't say that," Kate snapped. "And would he really write us a typed suicide note? Dummy."

"He won't even know," Madelyn snapped back. "He never said that you couldn't look at it."

"Yeah, but-"

"You are such a goody-goody Kate! I bet you'll be mummy's favorite baby girl. A perfect, primpt daughter that they didn't get with me. I bet you'll even stay a virgin until you're married, won't you?"

Kate's cheeks flushed bright red as she turned to face her sister.

"I am not a goody-goody," she snarled, her entire body shaking with rage. "You're just a bitch."

"Nice," Madelyn said, impressed. "I'm sorry, Kate. I didn't meant to come off as such a spoiled baby. Please, forgive me? Sister Love?"

"Yeah, alright," Kate conceded, shrugging awkwardly.

"We don't have to look at his type writer-"

"No! I want to," Kate said, dashing past her and heading up the stairs. Madelyn smirked at her sister's retreating back. Both she and Kate knew that she had set everything up entirely. She knew the right buttons to press with Kate, and the fact that she was basically swayed to whatever Hermione and Ron had asked was always a sore spot between the sisters. Madelyn knew that Kate didn't like to talk about it, and the fact that she had brought it up and used it against her stung Kate.

Max's room was always spotless and silent. Even when he was inside it it always reminded Kate of a library. The walls were filled with bookshelves that held hundreds of books. Grecian fairy tails stood next to books about the Second War. Muggle story books stood next to First Year Spell books.

"What a geek," Madelyn said, snorting. She walked over to the desk and looked through it. Kate smiled at her absolute nosiness.

Their fight had been forgotten. Madelyn was like that, and Kate knew it. She had known all along what her sister was doing, just what she would say was always a mystery. Like it or not, one was usually trapped into doing whatever Madelyn wanted simply by her making someone feel incompetent, etc. Kate saw it as the norm, as she was used to it, but for those who were new to it (those same who were not even aware that they had been trapped) saw it as Madelyn being a big bitch, which she could be at times.

"What drawer?" Madelyn called across the room.

"Last," Kate said, nervously staring at her sister open the drawer and pull some papers out. "What is it, Maddie?"

Madelyn was staring at the papers, completely perplexed. She looked up at her sister, her eyes dancing in the light. Her eyes resembled Kate's in many ways. It was a hazel color, a mix between their parents, Kate supposed.

"Maddie?"

Madelyn bent her head down to read. She gasped, though laughing as she did so, looking up at her sister. "It's _dirty_," she hissed, covering her mouth with her hand. "Here, read it."

"No way," Kate said, staring at the papers in her sister's hand in horror. "You read it, I'm fine." Her cheeks had turned a bright red.

"Alright, I will," Madelyn said, clearing her throat and jerking the paper in front of her. She turned to Kate one last time and opened her mouth and began reading. "'Isabella gasped in pleasure, Nathan moved down her stomach to her-'"

"Stop!" Kate cried. Madelyn read on, nevertheless. "Oh, I can't listen to this, Madelyn! Cut it out."

She dropped those pages and picked up another stack of them and avidly began to read them. She didn't make a sound for a long time. Kate couldn't remember a time in which her sister had been so still and silent.

"Kate, this is really good," Madelyn said, tuning to her sister, wide-eyed. "Mind you, he writes about two muggles, but it's…great."

"Let me see," Kate said, snatching the paper out of her sister's hands. She began to read and saw that what her sister said was true. Max wrote with such a flow that it was almost as though he was standing over her shoulder narrating it himself.

They each took a part in the book and began to read about a young couple, Isabella and Nathan who married young and were working out their lives, adjusting to being married.

The front door opened and shut.

"Shit!" Madelyn hissed, snatching the papers and shoving them back into the desk drawer. Kate hastily neatened them back out, knowing that they had been caught. Max would see that they weren't in the order her had left them in when he left the house. They managed to hop onto his bed just as he opened the bedroom door. He froze when he saw them.

"What're you-" He began, stopping when he realized what they had been doing. He flushed a bright red, but said nothing. "Do you need something?"

"Nope," Madelyn said, getting up. "Just like the quiet of your room. Great place to come and _read_." Max's gaze flickered to his desk, the drawer not fully closed. His cheeks got redder.

Kate had been prepared for him to hex them both to smithereens, leaving their mother to clean it up again. However, her brother seemed too embarrassed to say anything. He figured if he pretended that he didn't know what they had been doing in his room, that they would do the same for him, or so he had been hoping when he realized that they had been going through his things.

"Well, I have applications to fill out," Madelyn said, clapping her brother on the shoulder as she left. She smirked at him before flouncing down the hallway.

"Max, I'm sorry," Kate apologized.

He didn't respond. Finally he raised his gaze to her.

"Well…what did you think?" he asked. Kate was taken aback. Her brother was a very private person. She had seen him with his shirt off only once, and that was when it was ninety-seven degrees outside and she had been six. She could never remember a time when he had sat down with her and asked her opinion about anything, unless he wanted a debate he could win.

"It was-" Max sucked in his breath and waited nervously. "-brilliant," she finished. "I didn't know you could…write like that! That you had so much creativity inside of you!"

"Really?" Max said excitedly. "Can I tell you something that you have to promise you won't tell Big-Mouth?"

"Of course," Kate said. Unlike most sisters, Kate and Madelyn's sisterly bond only went so far. Madelyn told Kate anything and everything knowing that her secrets would go with Kate to the grave. However, Madelyn couldn't trust herself with a secret. It bubbled inside of her, bounced around her mind, distracting her thoughts. It whispered things to her. 'Tell someone. They won't mind.' Finally, with no free will, she would spill the secret, a feeling of relief not far behind.

Kate did tell her some things, but not crucial things. Madelyn had even asked Kate never to tell her anything she wouldn't want others to know.

"I sold it today," Max said, looking proud of himself. "That's where I was. I Apparated into London and dropped it off at my publisher."

"But, Max…" Kate said, frowning, "what about your job?"

"Well," Max said, "if I can make money being a writer, then I'll quit my job. You don't understand," he snapped, trying to explain. Kate's face had seemed disbelieving and stunned. Where had this passion from her brother arrived? She couldn't remember him ever mentioning how much he loved writing. "I've been writing short stories since I was seven. I love doing it. I can't think of anything else I'd rather do than write stories. See, Muggles think that my just writing about our family, our dull little family, is the most interesting of all! See, Isabella and Nathan seem like normal people in the beginning, but as time goes on, you learn that they're wizards…" He stopped. "What do you think mum and dad are going to say?"

"Well," Kate said, sighing. "Mum is going to tell you not to be so silly, that writing isn't a proper job. And dad is going to tell you that if it makes you happy, then it's what you should be doing."

"That's what I figured," Max said. He turned to Kate. "Thanks for listening."

"Of course," Kate said. "It's all I can do…you know, with the whole…girlfriend thing."

"Yeah, can we not talk about that, please?" Max looked down at his hands. "Sorry I was so abrupt with you earlier this morning, when you came in looking for company. I didn't mean to shove you out like that."

Kate shrugged. "It's ok," she said.

"I was thinking about what you said, though," Max said, leaning back against his desk, "about the hat talking to you. You said it told you-"

"That mum was a bit ditsy and completely stubborn," Kate finished for him. She thought about it. The memory was fuzzy and felt odd to think about, as though she had been witnessing it many times before. She had, but it felt different when she thought back upon it. Something had happened.

"You're right," Max said. "Mum is pretty level-headed."

"Exactly."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Max said shrugging. "Has anything really bothered you because of it? Maybe that it the part of the dream when you dream something that wasn't supposed to be there. Can you remember everything that happened during your Sorting?"

Kate opened her mouth to exclaim, "Of course, silly!" but stopped herself. In fact, it wasn't exactly clear what had happened. She remembered walking up to the stool, her heart pounding furiously in her chest. She remembered sitting down. Then….she remembered the hat talking to her…but-no, that wasn't right. Something about it wasn't right.

"Of course," Kate said, bringing a smile on her face.

"Well-"

"Listen, I'm hungry. I've got to go get ready. Mum is coming to pick me up and bring me to work with her today just after lunch. She's trying to get me in the back of everyone's minds before I get out of school."

"Oh, well, alright. Hey, don't tell her about-"

"I won't," Kate assured him, "but Madelyn will first chance she gets."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Max said, frowning thoughtfully. "I'll just tell mum and dad she was the one who set off the dung bomb in the house last week after their fight. They won't even think about me after that."

Kate wrinkled her nose. The smell had just recently left the house last night after Hermione and furiously zapped at the walls, lemon spray and rainforest mist seeping into the walls. Now the house smelt faintly of disinfectant.

She bid her brother a lovely afternoon and headed to Madelyn's room. She was listening to her Muggle tape player, her head bobbing around to the beat as she painted her nails, lying on her stomach. Her hair was in two high pigtails and she was currently in an oversized, unbuttoned plaid shirt, a grey/green wife beater and tan shorts with white socks on.

"Just so you know, if you tell mum or dad about the thing in Max's room, he's going to tell them that you sent of the dung bomb," Kate said.

Madelyn's mouth dropped open. "What a little brat!"

OoooooooO

The halls of the Ministry were spotless, freshly painted and polished. Kate's heels clicked merrily against the floor as her mother led her down the fifth floor.

"Now, I only have a bit of paperwork to do before I take you on a tour," Hermione informed Kate, leading her over to the seat across from her desk. "I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not," Kate said. As if she needed _another _tour of the Ministry. She had only sat through about a hundred of them. She gave her mother a smile.

She was actually hoping she could slip away from her mother and check out the Room of Records, which contained just about everyone's birth records, school records, job records, etc. It was Kate's favorite room in the entire Ministry. That and the sweet room, just down the hall.

"Ok, Kate, let's get a move on," Hermione said twenty excruciating minutes later. Kate's head snapped up off her shoulder and she turned to her mother blearily. She wiped a line of drool off her face and smoothed down her skirt.

"Awesome, let's go-"

"Mrs. Granger-Weasley, I'm so sorry to burst in like this but Harvey Harding is having another meltdown in the…_room_. He says he's going to quit!"

"Oh, not again!" Hermione snapped, rushing past Kate. She dashed out of the door, leaving Kate in silence for a moment. She poked her head back in. "I shouldn't be more than ten minutes, wait here!"

With that she rushed from the room, the sound of her heels bouncing off the walls. Kate sighed and heavily slunk into her seat. She wanted to give Hermione a head start before she started off down the same hall. Her father had let them know he wasn't going to be back before nine tonight. Hermione had been disappointed, but also happy that Kate would be more focused on her interviews.

Kate got up and headed down to the Record Room. As always it was silent inside. She crept over to the familiar area of W's and scanned for her family record. Yanking the heavy volume out of the drawer, she stumbled over to a table and sat down.

When she had been younger Max had introduced her to the room. He had taken her there one day when he was forced to entertain her for a couple of minutes while Hermione fixed another mini-disaster in her department.

Kate opened the book and turned to the middle of it. Her grandfather's name was proudly declared across the page: **Arthur Weasley, pages 3-7.** She flicked through it, the words familiar. She hadn't been here in over a year.

Her grandmother's was the same length as her grandfather's. These records were made after the second War, mostly to catalog those who had survived. Whenever anything changed within the families, a very old, very feeble witch would take the paper and record it into the family log.

Secretly, Kate had always wanted to be her. She knew everything about everyone. Who wouldn't to know that the Parkins's uncle Albie had a child out of wedlock with a twenty-year old waitress at the Hog's Head? That was valuable information right there.

Finally, Kate got to Ronald Weasley's name. She smiled as she flipped the page. Ronald Weasley was born in March of 1989. He was the second youngest of seven. Older brother to Ginny Weasley (d.) and younger to five brothers: Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George Weasley. He married Hermione J. Granger (see Granger and Weasley, Hermione) in 1997. They have three children: Max (20) (see Weasley, Max), Madelyn (18) (see Weasley, Madelyn ), and Katharine (16) (see Weasley, Katharine).

She scanned her brother's page. With a sickening sensation she saw that his profession had already changed from "Auror in training" to "Author/Auror in training."

"Lucky no one else comes in here," she muttered to herself, turning the page. She came upon Madelyn's page and glanced at it briefly. Her birth certificate was in the pocket on the side. She flicked to her own page, which she had always gone to right away.

She had always concentrated on her summary, though brief. She loved to read the updates and to see if she could cheat and tease the book. Once, she had succeeded. She had convinced herself that she was going to go home and train to be a professional closet-cleaner. The old witch ambled over, only to see Kate's stunned face. She had swore angrily and glared at Kate before going back to her chair, mumbling about kids these days.

This time she had a few extra minutes to spare and opened the old folder which held her birth certificate. She scanned it and smiled. It was the same one her father had shown her years earlier. She unrolled it, only to have another piece of parchment fall onto her lap. She frowned.

_Baby Weasley. Born April 11, 2001. Time of birth: 6:00pm. Weight: 9lbs, 4oz. _

Kate frowned. That was her birthday. She scrambled to unroll the birth certificate with her name on it. She scanned it deftly. Finally, she found what she had been looking for, what she had so often missed.

_Reinstated: April 12, 2001, by Ronald Weasley. _

She swallowed a lump in her throat and frowned.

Why had her birth certificate been reinstated? Why, if the other one was the original, why hadn't she been named? And why weren't her parents names on the original?


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione and Kate didn't speak on the trip back to the elevator. Hermione found it odd that her youngest daughter wasn't bubbling with joy at the prospect of having a job the moment she was out of Hogwarts. Tonks had been very impressed with Kate's reflexes and commented on them, causing Hermione to beam with joy.

Auror had been Ron's dream, until he grew bored with it after there wasn't much to do but chase after Mundugus Fletcher who had stolen three hundred orange cats and hid them out in an old warehouse. Ron still had some scars that weren't healed from his last Auror encounter. He went in the very next morning and quit, looking for a job elsewhere.

When he came home and reported to Hermione what he had done, she had been completely dumbfounded.

"But Ron!" she cried. "Being an Auror was your dream!"

"I know," Ron said moodily, "but, really, what was there to do?" He rubbed his thumb over the only wound he received in the War. "Tonight we chased old Dung Fletcher into a warehouse filled with hundreds of cats. I'm talking tons of them. What he planned to do with them I'm not sure."

Hermione pursed her lips together.

"I know that me being out of a job for a little while is going to be costly-"

"Don't worry about it," Hermione said immediately. "After the baby gets here we can both look for jobs." She kissed the top of his head.

"Oh, thanks, Hermione," Ron said gratefully. "I just couldn't stay in the job."

"You were too old for that crap?"

"No, much too young."

He only waited a month before he heard whispers that the Cannons keeper, Dugan Mulroy, had decided to leave in hopes that his career as a male model would take off. Ron had been more than pleased and quickly packed a bag and headed over to their home field. He and a thousand other men and women waited in line for their chance. When it came to Ron's, his stomach was in such a tight knot he was sure he was going to be laughed off the field.

However, they had seen promise in him and, after being placed into a lessening group, it was just he and another man from Romania, who missed one ball, while Ron managed to keep them all out. He had been asked to join the team.

"You're quiet," Hermione commented, pushing the button, causing the elevator doors to close in front of them. "Penny for your thoughts."

"Just…thinking," Kate replied, not taking her eyes off of her reflection from the gleaming silver doors. She saw Hermione nod, though Hermione did not look at her daughter's reflection.

Kate was thinking hard.

The hat had told her that her mother was ditsy. Hermione wasn't ditsy at all. And now she found that her birth certificate, the one with her name on it, wasn't the original. A painful knot had arrived, settling deep inside her stomach. She felt as though she was going to scream out loud and demand her mother explain everything to her.

"I can't wait to get home and see your dad," Hermione said happily.

"Right," Kate nodded. "My dad."

OooooooO

When they arrived home, Max and Madelyn were bickering loudly throughout the house. Apparently, Madelyn had decided that a slight teasing was in order for her dear older brother and kept at him for an hour before he snapped and fired back.

They had both attempted to hex each other, both had tried to physically beat the other one to admit they were wrong, or to bellow mercy.

"What is going on here?" Hermione cried furiously. "Your father is going to be home any minute and you're wrecking the place! Both of you, into separate corners and clean up the mess. I mean it."

"You can't-"  
"Oh, just watch me, young lady," Hermione snarled, whipping around to glare at her. Madelyn jumped and quickly began doing as she was told.

"Mum, can I talk to you a moment?" Max asked, stepping past Madelyn, who was bent over repairing a lamp, and kicked her butt hard.

"Ouch!" she cried, clamping her hands over it. She instantly went for her wand, but Kate stepped in front of it and kicked it out of reach. "Hey!"

"Don't make things worse. Be a better person. Rise above it," Kate instructed.

"You're right," Madelyn conceded. She bent down, picked up her wand and turned Max's head into that of a pig. Hermione let out a piercing scream, causing Madelyn to burst into laughter. Kate whirled around and gaped at what used to be her brother's head.

"Madelyn, I thought you said I was right!"

"You are right," she replied, "I'm just not that big of a person." She shrugged and flopped back onto the couch and smirked at Kate. "I love having magic now!"

Kate rolled her eyes, forgetting completely how unbelievably uneasy and furious she felt. She spent the rest of the hour sitting on the couch giggling wildly with her sister as Hermione worked on the tedious task of putting Max's head back.

Max attempted to swear and curse and scream his head off at Madelyn, but all that came out was wild squealing, which just made her laugh harder. Hermione was beside herself with fury at her eldest daughter and didn't bother to hide it.

"When are you going to grow up, Madelyn? You're eighteen years old, not twelve! Neither of your other siblings feel the need to cast magic around as you do. Grow up!"

Madelyn rolled her eyes.

Finally, after what seemed a lifetime, Max's face reappeared. Hermione heaved a great sigh before being shoved out of the way as Max lunged at Madelyn. She sidestepped him, causing him to tumble onto the coffee table. He let out a muffled groan before getting to his feet again.

"I'm going to kill you," he snarled, reaching for his wand. Madelyn stuck out her tongue at him. He sent a hex hurtling across the room. She moved out of the way just in time. The yellow hex collided with the wall, leaving a scorch mark the size of a quaffle.

"Oh!" Hermione cried, throwing her hands around her eyes. "Maxwell Arthur Weasley, that better come off out of the-"

Madelyn had been hit with a hex, causing her teeth to turn a ghastly shade of yellow and brown. They started falling out.

"Max, I'm gowing to kwill you!" she bellowed, holding her hands around her mouth. She raised her wand and aimed. Calling out the first thing that came to mind, the spell, which had been misspoken whizzed through the room, bouncing off lamps and picture frames before it smacked Max in the face. He toppled onto the ground.

"Stay still, you," Hermione barked at Madelyn. She repaired her teeth with the wave of a wand. "Max, you cut that out right this-"

Madelyn flung herself across the room resembling a person body flopping into a pool and landed upon her brother with a great, "Umph!" from him.

"Ouch," he bellowed, holding his eye. "Your bony elbow knocked right into it!"

Madelyn stopped. "Sorry," she said.

He wrapped his arm around her neck and held her in a vice while Hermione watched anxiously from the sidelines screaming for them to cut it out before someone gets hurt.

"You're choking me," Madelyn cried. Max didn't let up. "I'm dying!" she bellowed, slapping and punching any inch of him she could find. Finally, she bent down and sunk her teeth into his flesh. He let out a yelp and released her, causing her to slide a few feet.

"You little cheater!" he said in shock, rubbing his arm where her indent was steadily forming.

"I didn't cheat," she threw back, pushing her messed hair out of her face.

"You did, too," Max replied. "April 7, 2008, we made a rule that no scratching, biting or hair pulling was to take place between sibling fights because they were cheap, rude and wimpy."

"Right," Madelyn said, nodding as she remembered the exact time they had made the rules. In fact, Max had even drawn up an official document for both Kate and Madelyn sign. He hadn't turned ten yet, Madelyn had not yet turned nine and Kate was not yet seven. "Well, then-" she said before Max flung a curse at her. It hit her square in the chest and she toppled to the couch with a scream.

"That's it!" Hermione screamed, finally reaching for her own wand. "Your father is going to be home any minute and I will not have him subjected to your fighting and screaming and hexing, do you understand me? Now, Madelyn, clean up this mess, Max, you help her and Kate, go get something in the oven so it smells nice in here." Hermione was breathing heavily. Her three children immediately obeyed, each scampering over to their other tasks.

A while later as they sat and ate a rushed dinner, Kate looked around the table staring in turn at her mother and siblings. In fact, if she thought about it, hadn't she always thought that maybe she just didn't belong with them? Wasn't that thought always at the back of her mind that maybe she wasn't who she thought she was? Hadn't she almost hoped that someone would turn to her and realize that they had misplaced her?

Why would she think that?

It all started when she was little. Max and Madelyn always teased her about it, causing her to have anxiety attacks and the prime age of six. Before she began to believe it herself and almost embrace it, she always feared someone was going to come and take her away from them.

Also, there had apparently been a fire in their home when she turned six months and all her pictures from before then had disappeared. Max had claimed that the fire never happened, and there had been so proof of it to disprove what he was saying so she naturally believed that. In fact, there wasn't a single baby picture of her before she turned six months. Her first picture was missing and was indeed replaced by her youngest picture, which was at six months.

"Mum," Kate ventured quietly from across the table, "was there really a fire when I was a baby?"

Hermione looked up from her dinner, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Of course, darling, why would you ask?"

"No reason," Kate replied, looking over at her brother who was continuing his dinner. Of course he wouldn't be able to remember what he had said ten years ago. "It's just-" she hesitated. She wondered if she told her mother exactly why she thought so that her mother may explode all over her brother again and there would be more fighting. "I was in that old room with all the records and I saw that my birth certificate had been reinstated and I just wo-"

"Katharine Aurora Weasley, I absolutely forbid you to go into that room again!" Hermione bellowed across the table. Kate froze, as did Max and Madelyn. They were staring at her in shock. "I mean it, I forbid it! You were specifically told not to enter that room and you-"

"Mum." Madelyn's quiet voice broke apart Hermione's rant. Kate was looking at Hermione in complete shock and disbelief. Her mother had never yelled at her like that. She turned her head towards her brother whose fork had clattered onto his plate in shock and who was now staring at their mother as Kate was sure she was: complete surprise.

Hermione's face was bright red, her hair seemed electrified; her eyes were unusually bright and currently rooted onto her plate as though trying to make it disappear from her sight. Her hand were balled into fists on the table.

"Mum," Kate said weakly, near tears. She gulped. "I'm sorry, I didn't-I mean…I forgot," she whispered.

"It's fine," Hermione said tightly. "Now you know."

No one spoke for the rest of dinner. Madelyn assisted her mother in cleaning the kitchen while Max tidied up the living room. Kate sat on the couch and watched him dust the muggle way.

"You missed a spot," she said quietly, pointing at a spot on the coffee table.

"Why don't you get off your lazy arse and do it, then?" he replied not unkindly. He continued to stroke the towel around the directed area.

"Why did she yell at me like that?" she asked weakly, still feeling as though any moment she was going to start crying.

Max shrugged and looked unconcerned.

"Who knows," he said. "You know mum. She wouldn't even let me go alone to Diagon Alley alone until I was of age."

"But," Kate persisted, "she completely freaked!"

Max shrugged again. "Just don't go in there anymore."

Kate felt the usual tweak of curiosity. He had said the forbidden words. Now she felt as though she had to see what was in that room. If Max and Hermione were both telling her to stay out of it, then she needed to see what was in there.

The front door opened.

"Hello, family, I'm home!" Ron called.

"Dad!" Madelyn screamed, running out of the kitchen and leaping into her father's arms. "We missed you! No one cooks for us!"

Ron, who had stumbled when Madelyn leapt into his arms, balanced himself on the wall. She took herself away from him so that the others got get to him.

Kate hugged him tightly, breathing in his sense and smell. She smiled despite her anxiety and shook the rain out of his hair.  
"You smell like smoke," she commented quietly. His ears turned red and he put a finger to his lips before turning to Hermione, who also leapt into his arms.

"I'm so glad to see you!" she wailed, tears in her eyes.

The three Weasley's left the room to let them have a moment alone. However, it was to Kate's much discomfort when she saw whispering furiously in the kitchen. Once or twice they threw a glance at the three of them, Max and Madelyn fighting over a word puzzle and she staring at them.

When Ron caught her glancing their way, he pulled Hermione out of sight. Once again Kate's curiosity was peaked. They were acting weird. On edge. She wondered if it had anything to do with her birth certificate. And if so, then what?

"Promise me."

Ginny didn't say anything for a moment. She was too busy staring at the fire to really understand the seriousness of what he was saying.

"Huh? I'm sorry, Harry," she said, trying to shake her head clear. He didn't seem to mind, in fact, he seemed grateful to say it again. He took her hand in his.

"Promise me if something happens you'll keep on living as though I was still here," he repeated, watching her face carefully. For a moment he thought she was going to slap him.

"Fine," she snapped. "And if I die I want you to go on living as though I weren't dead either."

"Ginny-"

"What?" she barked. "I have to go on living and pretend that you were still alive and well but it would be alright if you decided to stick a spear through your neck and fling yourself off a bridge? I don't think so, Potter."

"Oh, come on-"

"Should I not even attend your funeral? I don't want it to interfere with my day or something-"

"Ginny!"

"What?" she cried.

"Never mind," he snapped.

"No, what?" she asked, her patience returning.

"I just don't want you to do something stupid because of me, that's all."

"Harry, I don't think you understand this, do you? If you died I would have no reason to live again. Why can't you understand that you are everything to me. The thought of never seeing you again-" she broke off, tears hot in her eyes her throat constricted with tears. "It makes me sick. I can't breathe thinking about losing you." She started sobbing now, small sobs. They quickly escalated until she felt as though she were going to burst in pain. Harry quickly came to sit next to her, comforting her.

"Alright," he whispered. "I won't make you promise me."

"Harry, let's make a pact," she said some minutes later.

"Like what?" he asked cautiously. "I'm not going to have to cut my finger and smear blood all over the carpet, am I?"

"No," she replied seriously.

"Then, what?"

"If one of us dies, what if the other comes and joins them?" Ginny said hesitantly.

"Oh, Ginny, how morbid!" Harry snapped, pushing him off of her and standing up, his entire body shaking with rage. "I will not stand here and listen to you talk about killing yourself-"

"Harry! Face it! If you're dead then you have no control over what I do, not that you do now, but you can no longer make me feel guilty. Is it so bad that I want to spend the rest of my life with you?"

"No, but-"

"No buts, Harry Potter," she said sternly. "You know where I stand. If you die I'm coming with you and that's that. You don't have to come with me, I will completely understand if you want to spend your life here on Earth, and I would never ask you to kill yourself."

"Ginny, listen to yourself! You sound nuts!"

But as the days went on he thought about it. What would he do if something happened to Ginny? He would have no one else to turn to. Everyone seemed to have broke up into pairs. Ron and Hermione had each other, Mrs. and Mr. Weasley had been married over twenty years, and Remus and Tonks were currently working their way through an engagement of their own. Even the other five Weasley brothers had found themselves wives.

Who would Harry have all to himself?

"I'll do it."

"I'm sorry?" Ginny asked from the Burrow's kitchen table. He looked her dead in the eye and repeated, "I'll do it." She never asked what he meant, and they never spoke of it again.

Almost a year later news spread that Harry Potter had been killed. It was Ron and Hermione who broke the news to her, unsure of how she was going to take it. They themselves were in pain and suffering from sorrow, but she could think of them no more.

Leaving a brief note to all her loved ones, Ginny Weasley dressed in her best outfit, and got into bed. Her chest heaving with sobs of loss and anger, she let her head rest against the pillow.

She sat for a moment, contemplating everything that had happened in their relationship. Harry had broken up with her over the summer of her sixth year. He had tried with all his might to avoid her during the summer, to no avail. On the night of Bill's wedding, she cornered him outside of his bedroom, shoved him into the room and locked the door.

There they talked for hours, each expressing their own concerns. Once convinced that Harry understood she was going no where, she proved it to him by allowing him to have her completely in every way possible. Four days later they made a suicide pact.

Ginny raised the wand to the tip of her head and whispered, "Avada Kedarva."

Mrs. Weasley found her an hour later while cleaning around the house. They rushed her to St. Mungos, but it was of no gain. Ginny Weasley had successfully committed suicide.

Meanwhile, Harry Potter had come out of a battle between he and Voldemort severely injured, bleeding, hurt, but victorious. His mind was on nothing but getting back to the burrow and reuniting with Ginny. His thoughts were on nothing but her.

He didn't take the news of her death well. His guilt was so large and so overpowering that he could no longer stand the sight of himself. Armed with nothing but his wand, Harry Potter blasted apart anything he could aim at. Once he felt he had ruined all of his things, he began to take apart his body. He hexed himself, gladly accepting another pain, another reason to hurt than to admit Ginny was dead.

He hate Ron and Hermione for telling Ginny he was dead. They couldn't have known what she was going to do. He himself had forgotten and, though they never knew, Ginny herself had forgotten. She could not bear the thought of life without him. She didn't do it for any other reason.

Harry had asked them to spread the news he was dead. He wanted everyone to believe he had died in battle. Even Voldemort thought Harry was dead. He hadn't been prepared at all for the Final Battle.

Once Harry felt he could no longer stand to breathe or to feel the weight of his guilt he took his wand and prepared to do just as Ginny had done. That was until a small, nagging voice crept back into his mind.

It was a memory of sitting in the Common Room. He was with Ron and Hermione.

"You know," Hermione had said, "the only drawbacks of wizards is that they aren't able to detect muggle medicine."

Harry hesitated before creeping into Hermione's drawer and locating a bottle of sleeping pills. Locking himself in his bedroom, he laying down on the bed, closed his eyes and waited to see her face again, to hear her voice.

There was a bright light over his head.

Very faintly he could here, "Harry…Harry…"

He tried to open his eyes but they were heavy. All he wanted to do was sleep forever, because when he was asleep he didn't have to face that he messed up, that it was his fault that Mrs. Weasley's only daughter was dead. He didn't have to deal with the fact that he killed the only person who ever loved him the way Ginny did.

Harry felt a dull pressure in his throat. It was a bit painful at first, but he fell asleep again. When he woke up, he was lying in a hospital room.

Ron and Hermione were in the corner. Hermione looked at Harry sadly. Tears were brimming over in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but Harry held his hand up.

"Please, Hermione," he whispered with a ragged breath. "Don't."

He closed his eyes in defeat; he was unsuccessful in committing suicide.

OooooooooO

Hermione let the memory swirl around in the basin as she peered into it sadly. She blinked back tears. She had gotten this memory from Harry after he had fallen asleep. She kept going back to it, kept forcing herself to relive it over and over again.

It had been so simple for Harry to decide that life had gotten too awful and to try and kill himself. Hermione would probably have done the same thing in his position. However, it was far more difficult for her to pack up and leave. She had children who counted on her to stay with them, to be their strength.

Her guilt had come to overpower her at times, rendering her unable to move, sometimes unable to breathe, to think, to stand up straight. She didn't know about the pact they had to each other, and how could she? Harry told her not to tell Ginny, but she hadn't listened to him. What is she was taken in and questioned? At least then she would be able to say that Harry Potter was dead as everyone else thought. Ron agreed with her. They told her. She killed herself. It was all their fault.

She couldn't bear the thought of what she did. She had killed her best friend. She had killed her husband's little sister. She had killed her best friend's love. She had ruined the Weasley family. She had ruined Harry's life.

Harry wouldn't talk to them. She was sure that he hated them. She couldn't stand to look at him. He could see it in his eyes. He could see the hurt the anger, the look of ultimate betrayal upon his face.

He had screamed at them until he was hoarse. "Why didn't you listen to me?" he screamed across the Burrow's kitchen. "I told you not to tell her! You promised me!"

The Weasley's hadn't been told of the pact that Harry and Ginny made. In fact, Hermione didn't even know about it until she read the note Ginny had written to her. Oh, how she crumpled, and how she sobbed. Days on end.

She fallen to the ground on her knees, begging for forgiveness from Ginny and Harry. Praying to whomever listened that she would be forgiven and that someone would make it right. And so, even though she knew she shouldn't, she agreed with Ginny. She allowed herself and Ron to be trapped into another mistake.

How many times had it almost come out? How many times had they had to Obliviate their own children to make them forget what happened? How many times had she made to tell him what they did? To confess to him everything, not that he already didn't know.

He had to have known. How could he not be aware of what they had promised Ginny? He should have figured it out, even if no one else around them realized what they had promised her when it happened.

They had been stupid to agree to it. They had been completely brainless to have gone along with it, to pretend and lie and scheme those they loved.

"_Hermione, I don't know what else to do…"_

It haunted Hermione. She heard it over and over again. She heard herself agreeing to it, allowing them to accept it into their life.

"_He's dead, Ginny. He died in battle. I'm so sorry…"_

Hermione clenched her eyes shut. She should have known. She should have realized what was going to happen. How could she have been so stupid? She should have listened to Harry.

"Hermione, what's the matter?"

She didn't answer. She turned her head and let it rest on her husband's chest and sobbed. She cried for her children who never knew and Ron's family whom she had hurt and for Harry who wouldn't talk to them anymore. And most of all she cried for _her_, for who was going to be affected the most when the pain she was going to feel when it all came out. The betrayal that was going to come.

Kate had almost found out today. The thought paralyzed her with fear. How would her children look at them when they found out they lied to them?

And so, Ron and Hermione lay there, grasping onto each other for support, for comfort and for confirmation that they did the right thing.

It was funny, Hermione thought. Success was supposed to be held for something someone worked towards and wanted more than anything. To be successful. Success.

It boggled Hermione's mind that someone who managed to kill themselves was successful.

"What should we do?" Hermione sobbed.

"I think we have to tell them," Ron replied softly. Hermione let out a squeak of fear wiped her tears away.

"They're going to hate us," she moaned.

"We promised each other that when they started getting suspicious we'd tell them," Ron reminded her firmly. "Remember?"

"Of course I do," Hermione snapped. "I just-How will they ever forgive us?"  
"If we tell them it'll be easier than if we didn't," Ron said, pulling Hermione back down onto the pillows. "At least it's coming from us, their parents."

"Right," Hermione whispered, "their parents."

A/N: Read and review. Thanks.


	5. Chapter 5

When Kate woke up the next morning her mother was standing in the kitchen, her hand wrapped around a warm cup of steaming coffee, her mind obviously elsewhere. Kate stood in the doorway, silently watching her mother gaze into space, lost in her own little world.

Hermione took a sip of coffee and rested the cup down on the tile counter. She looked out the window at the yard that still had the early morning dew resting comfortably on the dark green lawn.

She had left Ron to sleep a bit longer, as he had been traveling quite a bit. He had stayed up with her all night, waiting with her until she fell asleep, her crying finally taking its toll and putting her to sleep. Her guilt was threatening to break her again and cause her to break down. This guilt wouldn't go away no matter how much she tried to tell herself they had done the right thing.

Harry wasn't ready and they couldn't find it in themselves to place another burden on him. He would have been so angry and so unforgiving with them for keeping it from him. He would have wanted to be there with her.

_Well, now you've kept it so much longer. Won't he be even madder now_? Hermione thought to herself, swallowing hard. She tugged at the zipper of her sweater and pulled it further up.

Kate wanted desperately to say something to her mother. However, a small voice inside of told her to keep quiet and just watch her mother.

Hermione put her head in her hands, her shoulders slumped and they began to shake, alerting Kate to the fact that she was crying. She let out a sob and rested her elbows onto the countertop of the island and rested her weight on it.

From behind her Kate heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. She started and began to panic. She didn't want to interrupt her mother and she certainly didn't want to get caught by whoever this was coming downstairs.

With a fleeting look behind her, Kate snuck into the kitchen silently and went into the panty, closing the door over. She had the perfect view of her mother. A moment later her father walked into the room, looking tired and anxious.

"'Mione," he said, coming over to her and wrapping her in a hug. Kate frowned and watched their interaction. "Come back to bed, it's early."

"Oh, Ron," Hermione said, pushing him off of her and pushing her hair back from her face. "I can't sleep! I can't even think straight!"

"It won't do you any good to sit in here and cry," Ron said, sitting down next to her. "Well, at least, not by yourself." He reached for the jar on the counter and took off the lid, reaching inside and taking out a cookie.

"Ron, it is six-thirty in the morning!" Hermione admonished, shooting him a glare. "I'll make you breakfast if you're so hungry."

"No, it's alright," he replied. "These are my favorite."

They were silent for a moment. "Ron, what are we going to do?"

He didn't answer her immediately. "I don't know," he said finally. "Maybe we should tell her."

Hermione started crying again, unable to help herself. "She's going to hate us!"

"No," Ron said firmly, interlocking his fingers as well as resting his elbows on the countertop. "She won't hate us. We did what we thought was best."

"Ron, don't be stupid! She's not going to understand that we did it for the best. All she is going to care about is that we lied to her. We've _been_ lying to her! She'll never forgive us."

"Yes she will." Ron's body language told Kate that he was tense. "No matter what we've been her parents. We raised her."

"Harry would have come around," Hermione said miserably. "He would have wanted to be apart of her life."

"Ginny's death really messed him up, Hermione." Ron turned to her and Kate saw the side of his face looked grave. She felt a sudden wave of guilt about eavesdropping on their conversation. They obviously didn't want anyone to overhear them. Despite that, Kate felt the thump of her heart begin to accelerate. She was almost afraid to breathe lest she miss something.

"Ron," Hermione said again, her voice dropping to a whisper, "what if Kate had seen it when she was in there?"

"I don't know," Ron said eventually. He didn't want to say that he was kind of hoping she had found it. At least then their years of torment would have been over with. They would have been forced to come to terms with what they had done and finally begin to heal. They had never been able to mourn properly and Harry never spoke to them again.

"I was so scared, Ron." Hermione put her hands through her hair again, turning to her husband of twenty years. "I yelled at her, Ron. I never yell at her!"

"You were scared, 'Mione, it's understandable."

"No, Ron, it isn't." She took another sip of her coffee. "This is what it's doing to me! It's causing me to yell at Kate and snap at Max. I was so distracted I didn't even notice that Madelyn didn't show up to work yesterday."

"Lucky her," Ron muttered.

"Yeah, lucky her," Hermione said wistfully. "I don't know what we should do. I wish we had someone to talk to."

"Maybe my parents," Ron said carefully, but Hermione let out a moan and fresh sobs racked her body. "Or not!" Ron said in alarm.

"We kept it from them, too!"

Ron put his head in his hands and groaned in defeat. "Ginny asked us to."

"No one will understand that, Ron!" Hermione cried furiously. "No one is going _understand_!"

Ron knew that she was probably right. He thought of his parents who had loved Ginny so much and missed her more than anyone, well, maybe not as much as Harry.

Ron swallowed hard. The mere thought of Harry caused him to sweat. Hermione was right, he decided. Their family would never forgive them either. At least this way they were all happy. No one was getting hurt the way things were.

"Maybe we don't have to tell anyone," Ron said after a moment. There was a tense, long silence that followed. Finally Hermione lifted her head up to look at her husband. Her nervously shifted on the stool and cleared his throat.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe," Ron repeated, "we don't have to tell anyone."

"Ron!" Hermione spluttered. She had completely lost her footing. She thought they were both equally miserable about their silence. "I thought…"

"Hermione, sometimes all I want to do is scream and cry but let's think about this logically," he snapped. "We raised a beautiful, intelligent child. Who do you think we would hurt if we told everyone? No, better yet, a smaller list would be who we wouldn't hurt. The only people who would feel better are us. Everyone is better off not knowing."

"But, Ron," Hermione said desperately. She looked away from him and gazed outside again. "They should know."

"I agree."

"Then…"

"No, Hermione," Ron said firmly. He turned to her sadly.

"What about Harry?"

The pregnant pause that entered the room was deafening. Kate held her breath, waiting for someone to say something. Her father was gazing at Hermione, his face frozen like stone. For a second Kate was a bit frightened. He looked as furious as she had ever seen him.

"Don't do this, Hermione," he snapped. Hermione turned to him, her eyes filled with tears. Her bottom lip began to shake.

"We raised his child, Ron."

Kate stepped back in surprise, her foot knocking into a broom. It fell to the floor with a 'clink' that sounded through the tiny little room.

Hermione and Ron wheeled around. Kate held her breath but not even a millisecond later the French doors that led to the patio opened and Madelyn walked in. Ron and Hermione turned to her, forgetting about the cupboard.

"Mum! Dad!" Madelyn said, coming to a dead stop. She gazed at them worriedly, tucking her long red hair behind her ear. "What are you two doing up so early?"

"What are _you_ doing up so early?" Hermione asked in return. She watched Madelyn shift guiltily on her feet and narrowed her eyes.

"I…" Madelyn cleared her throat. "I fancied a walk."

"A walk?" Ron asked critically. "You don't walk."

"I walk," Madelyn snapped.

"At six-thirty in the morning?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow. "Madelyn Grace Weasley, just where exactly are you coming from?"

Madelyn opened her mouth, searching for something to say. After a minute she put her hands on her hips.

"What are you two doing up so early?" She raised an eyebrow.

"We," Hermione growled, "are having an adult conversation. And don't change the subject."

"I was at a friend's house," Madelyn said evasively.

"What friend?" Hermione said with a scoff.

"I have friends!"

"Madelyn," Ron said wearily. She turned to her father. He was gazing at her with a look that told her he had a good inkling where she had been. "Why don't you go up to your room and we'll talk about this later."

"Yes, daddy," Madelyn answered obediently and walked past her parents quickly, not looking at her mother as she rushed up the stairs towards her bedroom.

"Oh, she went to London, didn't she?" Hermione asked, her tone telling Ron she already knew the answer to that.

"Yup."

"Oh, God, she's going to be some back-up dancer!"

"Yup."

"Wonderful," Hermione said, reaching into the cookie jar and taking out a cookie, savagely ripping a piece off and munching on it. "All that potential…"

"Who knows," Ron said hopefully, "maybe she'll become famous."

"Famous for what?" Hermione asked with a scoff. "Shaking around behind some horny, dirty singer?" She shook her head. "What will she be doing when she's my age?"

Ron shrugged and took another cookie, biting into it thoughtfully. He knew that once Madelyn got out into London and was all alone she would come around.

"Just give her some freedom," Ron said. "As soon as she sees we're alright with it she'll lose interest."

"I hope you're right," Hermione said mournfully.

"I am," Ron said confidently. "C'mon, let's go up to bed. I'm exhausted." He stood, brushed the crumbs off of his shirt and held out his hand for his wife to take. She sat for a second longer before rising as well and taking her husband's hand.

"Ron…"

"I know, Hermione," Ron said wrapping her into a hug. He was almost a foot taller than her and could easily rest his chin on her head. "Can we talk about this later?" Hermione didn't answer. "Please?"

"Yes, Ronald," Hermione replied sharply.

"Great."

They walked through the small hallway towards the stairs, Ron's arm still around Hermione's shoulders. Kate waited until she heard the soft click of her parent's door before opening the door with a small creak. She walked into the center of the kitchen and gazed at where he parents had just left.

She quickly went up the stairs two at a time and rushed into her bedroom, shutting the door and leaping into bed. With the covers pulled over her head she clenched her eyes shut and replayed the conversation she had just overheard.

"_We raised Harry's child…_"

Kate felt her heart begin to beat wildly again. She swallowed and then slowly pulled the covers off of her face, staring around at her room.

A sudden thought hit her with such a force that she lost her breath and lay there, not breathing for a full minute. She finally regained some sense and suck in a deep gulping, coughing heavily before closing her eyes again.

Kate suddenly realized that one of her siblings and she weren't Ron and Hermione's child. She stared up at the ceiling and wondered if Max or Madelyn knew it yet.

OoOoOo

Ron lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. Hermione had fallen asleep moments before and was snoring peacefully next to him. He couldn't fall asleep. Hermione's words were clouding his mind, making him anxious. He couldn't get his eyes to stay shut for two seconds. They continued to open and fix upon a picture of his sister, which sat on Hermione's dresser.

Sadly, he thought back to the day when Ginny had come to them. Now, over a decade and a half later he wished he had declined. He wished that he hadn't let Hermione talk him into it. He wished he could have had the guts to tell his sister a firm no. More than anything else, he wished he had been able to tell Harry that he had raised his child.

Ron's stomach turned into a knot and he turned away from the picture that was smiling calmly at him.

"Ginny…" Ron whispered to himself. "What have you done?"

He wondered to himself what would have happened if Harry had not refused to see them and sent back every letter unopened. Would he have wanted to see the child Ginny and he had made?

Ron sighed again, wishing he could push this guilt away for even a moment. It was overwhelming to think of how much they had hurt Harry, the only person they loved more than each other.

He turned to Hermione, his wife of twenty-one years and smiled despite himself. Her hair was all over the place and her mouth was slightly agape as she dreamed of something that was causing the corners of her mouth to sag down. He knew it had something to do with what had happened down in the kitchen. Their conversation was now causing Ron to lose sleep, something he wasn't used to. He could sleep through a tornado.

The problem that Ron always had was that he wondered what would have happened if he and Hermione hadn't been busy with their own family to realize Ginny was going to do something stupid. He knew that had caused a small nagging sensation on his brain all those years ago, but he never thought she'd kill herself.

_OoOoOo_

_The sun streamed into the windows, causing shadows on the ground of the kitchen. Hermione stood against the counter, holding onto her very pregnant stomach. She gulped down a cool glass of lemonade, sighing happily as it cured her thirst. _

_Max played on the floor, his thumb coming up to his mouth. Hermione looked down at him and went over to him and picked him up, swinging him onto her hip. She turned suddenly and smiled._

OoOoOo

Ron woke with a start and rubbed his eyes furiously. He realized with a start that they were wet with tears.

"Ron?"

He turned to Hermione, who had been watching him. They didn't say anything for a minute. Hermione was too busy studying her husband's face.

"What did you dream about?"

"Nothing, really," he said, laying back into the bed. "You were pregnant."

Hermione smiled at him slightly and came closer to him, climbing until she was lying on his stomach.

"Please, promise me something," Ron whispered.

"Of course," Hermione replied.

"Please, let's not tell anyone," he said. Her eyes closed. "She'll hate us for the rest of her life."

Hermione nodded to herself. She rested her head in the crook of Ron's neck and wondered what their life would have been like if they had declined.

"Will this guilt ever go away?" Hermione asked mournfully, nuzzling Ron's neck. He didn't respond.

"We did the right thing, right?" he asked finally. Hermione stopped kissing his neck to look at him. His face was stoic and caused Hermione to shiver despite the muggy summer morning. "Right?" He looked down at her.

"I don't know, Ron," she replied uneasily.

"Yes you do, Hermione," he snapped suddenly, causing her to jump. "Do you think we did the right thing?"

"No, Ron, I don't," Hermione replied softly. "I think we should have told Harry and given him his daughter. What would it have mattered, anyways? Ginny was dead. We owed her nothing."

"And now it's too late," Ron said. He felt Hermione nod. For the first time since Ginny's death Ron wanted to yell at her, scream at her, maker her feel the absolute pain and suffering that she put them through.

"Now it's too late, Ron," Hermione said. "No matter what we do now it will never make up the past. We made a mistake."

"Hermione, how can you…?"

"No, let me rephrase," Hermione said, sitting up on her elbows to look him in the eye. "Raising her was one of the best experiences, Ron. I love her like she was my own daughter. She is my daughter. It's just…" she broke off, wondering how to phrase it correctly.

"The pain that Ginny's death caused was awful. And that baby helped us, remember? It was as though Ginny was giving us this second chance, this little baby to raise right and we couldn't say no to her. She helped us grieve Ginny's death. But in taking her and in lying to your family we hurt Harry. He will never know his own daughter. And even if we told him and he saw her, he would never have our memories and our past with her so it isn't worth it." She watched Ron's face for a reaction. "I wish we had never told Ginny. I wish I could take it all back."

Hermione started crying again. And, for the first time in many years she grieved not for Ginny and not for herself but for their daughter who wasn't quite their own.

OoOoOo

Kate sat up with a gasp, her heart beating wildly. She felt the sweat dripping in buckets from her and clutched at her throat, trying to calm herself down. She had the dream again. The dream ended in the same spot. Despite her trying, she couldn't remember where exactly it ended, just that it happened at the end of dinner.

Glancing at the clock briefly she saw it was eleven in the morning. Well past the normal time that she was up. She leaned against the headboard, thinking furiously. She wondered briefly if her parents were still carrying on their conversation.

Just the thought of it caused Kate to want to crawl into a hole and die. She couldn't believe that one of the Granger-Weasley siblings were a Weasley-Potter. The thought was overwhelming.

And then, just as Kate was geared up to push it to the back of her mind she remembered that her parents had constantly said 'she' when referring to the hidden Potter child. She fell back into bed, her head swimming.

"Well, that explains everything," Kate murmured to herself. She realized that it must be her that was the outsider of the family. It all made sense to her suddenly. She was the black sheep of the family.

She never looked like her sister and she never looked like her brother. With a shaky sigh Kate thought back over the years when it had been painfully pointed out to her. She should have recognized that her mother was not angry with her. Hermione was petrified. That was the look in her eyes last night.

With determination coursing through her, Kate sat up, pushing the covers back. She stepped onto the cool wood floor and hurried down the hallway to her parents' room. With a moment in which she fought the urge to run back to bed, Kate knocked on the door, waiting for a response.

There was a moment's silence. She knocked again, louder. Still there was no sound.

"They went out."

Kate whirled around to see her brother walking down the hall with a cup of coffee in his hand. She frowned at him.

"Out? Where?"

"I don't know," Max replied with a shrug. "They said they had some errands to run. There's coffee and muffins in the kitchen."

"It's eighty-five degrees outside," Kate snapped, shoving past him and going into her room. She tugged off her shorts as her brother stepped into her room. "Don't you knock?" she snapped, tugging on a pair of green shorts. He held his hand over his eyes.

"What's your problem?" he asked as she pulled on a bra and shirt.

"I don't have a problem," Kate replied, frantically pulling a brush through her hair. She yanked it back and away from her eyes. She stepped into her shoes, tugging them on and stormed past him in a flurry towards Madelyn's room. "Where is she?" she asked furiously.

"She has an interview," Max replied. "Some dumbass actually saw her resume and thought she had some potential…" He watched in surprise as Kate turned to him, a weird look in her eyes.

"Now what am I going to do?" she demanded.

"Do about what?"

"I need to get to the Ministry right away," she snapped. "Can you take me?"

"What do you need to go to the Ministry for?" Max asked, sipping from his coffee unconcernedly all the while gazing at her in surprise, as he had never seen her act this way before.

"I just do, alright?" Kate screamed, losing her temper. "Can you take me or not, Max? If not, speak now so I can start flooing."

"No, I'll take you."

"Thank you." Kate pushed the loose ends of her hair back and watched her brother walk down the hallway. He turned into his room and closed the door over. For five painstakingly long minutes Kate waited impatiently for Max to finish. Finally, she had enough. "What the bloody hell are you doing in there?" she bellowed, knocking on the door.

It opened suddenly and Max appeared completely shaven and in a different outfit. He gazed down at her.

"Alright, let's go," he said taking her by the elbow. Kate continued to stare up at him, baffled.

"Did you shave?"

"I don't see how that's…" Max said.

"You did," Kate said, feeling his cheek as they went down the stairs quickly. She finally snapped back to reality and yanked him forward. "Alright, let's go."

"Hold on," he said, striding over to the mirror and looking at himself appraisingly. Kate let out a growl of frustration and yanked at his arm.

"Let's go!" she snapped.

"Calm down, Katie, don't get your knickers all bunched up!" he snapped back. "Here, take my arm." She did so and squeezed it tightly. He glared down at her for a second before they were swept away. Kate clenched her eyes shut and held on tightly as they whirled around.

After ten minutes or so they landed with a soft thud in a deserted alleyway. Max poked his head out to look around before grabbing her by the arm and tugging her forward.

"Coast is clear," he muttered and walked along the sidewalk. Kate walked next to him, trying to pick up more speed. Max was almost a foot taller than her and he could take much bigger steps than she could. "Why are we in such a rush?"

"Why were you shaving?" Kate retaliated.

"Not talking is always nice," Max said in reply and they walked the rest of the street in silence. Kate hopped into the phone booth and yanked the phone down, quickly dialing the number.

Max stepped in beside her and glanced around quickly before they descended in the phone booth. Kate turned to her brother angrily.

"Why are you still here?"

"I can't come?" Max asked reprovingly. "I can Apparate you all the way here but then I can't see what you're in such a rush for?"

"Haven't you ever heard of privacy?" Kate barked.

"Not in our family," Max replied casually. "Here, just redial and say my name as well."

"Max, why can't you just go back…"

"Fine, I'll do it myself," he snapped, shoving her aside and picked up the phone. "Yes…Max Weasley…" He tugged the gold pin on Kate's shirt around so that he could see the floor number. "Floor three."

A brand new, shiny gold pin came out with his name on it. He defiantly pinned it to his shirt and Kate rolled her eyes. She wanted nothing more but for her brother to go away and leave her alone.

Finally the elevator shuttered to a stop and the doors slowly opened. Kate sped out, stopping short when Max caught a hold of her wrist and grasped it firmly. She turned wildly.

"Kate, just tell me where you're going and I'll leave you alone."

"Fine," Kate snapped, thinking wildly. "I am having a private consultation with Tonks about maybe starting Auror training in the summer of next year rather than the fall."

"Why didn't you just say so?" Max asked looking thoroughly relieved. He had been afraid she was a drug addict off to meet her dealer boyfriend for an afternoon of unprotected, drug-induced sex.

"I didn't want you to blab to mum," Kate said, happy to see Max bought the bait efficiently. "I want it to be a big surprise."

"Well, alright, then," he said, glancing around. "I'll go wait in the cafeteria for you. How long do you think you'll be? I'll Apparate you home."

"Oh, I don't know," Kate said, with a careless shrug. "Twenty minutes?"

"Alright." Max smiled down at her as she walked towards the elevators that would bring her down to the various departments.

Max was almost at the cafeteria when something that he perhaps neglected to realize in his relief suddenly came to him. He looked down at his pin, a frown creasing through his forehead.

"_Level Three_," was proudly engraved in the small gold pin that glinted in the florescent light above. He turned sharply and started walking towards the elevators. If he knew Kate, and he was pretty sure he did, she was headed right back to the room Hermione had forbidden her from the night before.

OoOoOo

Kate hurried down the hall. Every once in a while she would glance behind her shoulders to insure her brother was not following her. As she rounded yet another corner the small, dusty looking door came into view. She let out a sigh of relieve and hurried towards it, opening the door and quickly shutting it behind herself.

The room was cool and quiet. The little old woman behind the desk looked up in surprise. Kate was sure she never saw many people inside of the room.

"Name?" she asked, quill ready to scratch it down.

"Er," Kate said dumbly. "October Lupin."

The little old woman wrote it down slowly and looked back at Kate with a crooked smile. She placed the quill on the desk.

"Alright, off you go." Kate smiled slightly and walked down the long rows filled with every wizard and witch's family history. With the path already well known to her, Kate weaved her way through the messy stacks until she came to the one she was looking for.

Kate glanced through the stacks looking for 'Weasley.' She went over the names ten times before a sickening sensation began to fill her stomach. It wasn't there. The book was gone.

"Excuse me?" Kate asked, coming over to the little old woman who had dozed off. The woman glanced around in confusion before her gaze fixed upon Kate.

"Yes, dear?"

"Do you have a list of all the people who have come in here, per chance?" The old woman blinked before nodding.

"Right here, dear," she murmured, turning the book around so that Kate could see it. She scanned the names anxiously, looking for Weasley. There were none. She was about to assume her parents didn't sign in when she saw '_Bilius and Jane Prewett_' scrawled in a familiar handwriting. Bilius and Jane Prewett, Kate thought to herself. Ronald Bilius Weasley and Hermione Jane Granger-Weasley. And, Kate thought, Prewett is grandma's maiden name.

"Do you know which files they took?" Kate asked in a strained voice. The old woman looked perplexed.

"Files?" she asked. "What files?"

"The Weasley family files," Kate said hurriedly. "They're gone."

"Gone?" the old woman repeated. "That's preposterous. Those files are not to leave this room…" She frowned at Kate suspiciously. "You don't want to take them, do you?"

"No!" Kate cried in frustration. She bit her lip and thought quickly. "The couple that came in here before me do you remember what they looked like?"

"Er," the woman said, thinking. "Tall man with red hair and the woman…well, I can't really remember her, 'cause she went right towards the stacks of files."

"Great," Kate muttered to herself. As much as she would have wanted to see the files again to prove to herself that it was she who didn't belong, the fact that her parents took them confirmed her doubts.

Kate hurried back over to the stacks and searched through them frantically, tugging things off the shelf and throwing them back on, opting not to worry about the mess or noise she was making.

Suddenly a strong hand gripped her wrist and tightened furiously around it. For a moment Kate was sure it was the little old lady coming to put a stop to the ransacking. But when she looked up she saw only to furious face of her brother.

"Max…"

"Kate, shut up," he snarled, tugging her out of the W's and bringing her into the center of the room. He paced back and forth before turning to her looking as angry as she had ever seen him. "Mum told you to stay out of this room!"

"Max, listen to me!" Kate pleaded, trying desperately to get Max to stop pacing, stop yelling and stop giving her those furious glances.

"We're going home right now before someone sees us coming out of here and happens to mention it to mum or dad," Max snapped, grabbing her arm and tugging her out.

"Max, you don't understand, they took them!" Kate cried. Despite his urge to leave immediately, his curiosity had been peaked.

"Who took what?" he asked casually.

"Mum and dad took the family history."

"So?" Max asked, looking over her shoulder at where they had just come out of. He felt himself frown and turned to look back at Kate.

"Why would they do that, huh?" Kate asked, raising her eyebrows questioningly at her brother. "Unless they had something to hide that's why. You saw the way mum reacted last night when she found out I was in here. I looked at our family's book and now it's gone. Doesn't that seem a little fishy to you?"

Max didn't answer. He seemed to be fighting an internal battle with himself; half of him seemed to believe Kate and the other half seemed to want to drag her out of the room and go home altogether. Finally he let out a growl of frustration.

"You don't even know it was them, Kate."

"Here, I'll prove it to you," she replied quickly. She tugged on his arm until he was walking next to her. They arrived at the desk. "Here, see?" Kate asked, pulling the book around just as the little old woman, who had been staring at Max through narrowed eyes said, "Did you sign in, young man?"

"What am I looking for…October?" he said, raising his eyebrows at her and she in turn rolled her eyes and jabbed her finger at the two names just above hers. "Bilius and Jane Prewett," he read to himself. He tensed and looked back up at her, giving a small, indifferent shrug.

"Well?"

"I think we should go," Max snapped, grabbing her wrist again.

"No, Max," Kate hissed, trying to pry his hand off of hers. She finally snapped and bellowed, "Let go of me!" He stepped back, glaring at her. "Max," she said slowly, catching her breath, "I think there's something I need to tell you."

Again, Kate had managed to peak Max's curiosity because a moment later he was following her down the hallway. She stopped and turned to him, her heart rate accelerating.

"Max I heard mum and dad talking about something this morning," she started. "I know I shouldn't have been listening but…" She sighed. "They were fighting about something. They wanted to tell us something but couldn't."

"Tell us what?" Max asked.

"Did you know aunt Ginny and Harry Potter had a child together?"

"What?" Max exclaimed. "No they didn't."

"Yes they did," Kate snapped. "Mum and dad raised her."

"Kate, that's ridiculous," he snarled, running his hand through his hair. "Why would aunt Ginny need someone to raise her child? Why couldn't she do it herself?"

"Because…" Kate said lamely. "She died, Max."

"And she told mum and dad before she died that she wanted them to raise her child in secret?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yes," Kate replied. "Mum and dad don't want us to know about it because they're afraid we're going to hate them. I can show you."

They walked in silence. Max followed Kate without talking. She turned a corner and then down a long row until they were at the P's. She ran her fingers along the spines of the books until she came to a thin space between two books. She frowned and turned to Max, a look of satisfaction coming over her face.

"Just as I suspected," she replied softly. "They took Harry Potter's as well."

OoOoOo

"And as I'm sure you know we have a very rigorous work load for first year interns," Mr. Pillock said, gazing over his glasses at Madelyn, his expression stern. "Ten hours a day, six days a week."

"Great," Madelyn said happily. "I'm for it." _I'm up for you shutting the hell up and giving me the job already you ugly son of a-_

"Your cubicle will be small," he went on, glancing back down at her resume. "And this will not be anything like…Madam Malkin's Dress Robe Expo."

"I understand," Madelyn replied happily, slapping on a fake, bright smile that won everyone over. The man puffed out some air and returned his eyes to her resume. The smile slipped from her face. _Hurry up, you bat!_

"If you're up for it, we'd love to add you to our staff," he said after ten minutes of awkward silence in which he debated whether to hire her. Mr. Pillock always weighed his words to decide if they were the right ones to say.

"Oh, great!" Madelyn cried, genuinely ecstatic. "You won't be disappointed, sir! I'll be the best little worker you've ever seen!" She jumped up and shook his hand enthusiastically.

She left his office, her smile radiating all over her body. She felt so exhilarated that she decided a new pair of shoes was in order. Flicking her long red hair back, she walked to the elevators and pressed the down button.

The job she had just gotten wasn't her first choice, but she had always wanted to work at a magazine or newspaper. This one wasn't as trashy as _The Quibbler _or as backhanded as _The Daily Prophet_. And, it had just moved it's headquarters right across from the Ministry so her mother would always knew where she was, lucky her.

She had gone all the way out to London last night to try out for the band and when she got there everyone was rude and smelly and gross. She saw the girls that hung around them and decided she didn't want that to be her.

Luckily, she got an owl that morning asking her to come in for an interview with Mr. Pillock.

She was coming out of the large building when she saw two familiar faces hurrying down the street.

"Kate! Max!" she cried, crossing the street quickly, her heels make it hard to hurry. A muggle cab nearly hit her as she cried, "Watch it, you wanker!"

She finally arrived at the other side of the street where her brother and sister stood, looking uncomfortable.

"What a prat, huh?" she asked, glaring as the cab picked up speed again. She turned back to them with a smile. "Where are you two coming from?"

"Erm," Max replied. "We had to run in and see Tonks. Kate is applying for early admission to Auror training for next summer."

"Wow," Madelyn said, impressed. "Very nice, Kit Kat."

Kate winced at the childish nickname and gave her sister a once-over. She was wearing sleek black shoes with a pointy heel, black tights a black skirt and a light pink, button-up sweater that worked with her red hair.

"Where are you coming from?" Kate asked.

"Interview," Madelyn replied smugly. "And I got the job."

"That's great, Madelyn!" Kate cried, hugging her sister. "You didn't even have to wait for a call-back."

"You were just hired right away?" Max asked skeptically.

"Yes," Madelyn replied. "They needed to fill the spot right away. Mr. Pillock thought I was perfect for the job."

"So it was a guy that hired you?" Max asked weirdly.

"Yes," Madelyn replied, narrowing her eyes. "Why?"

"You didn't…you know, do anything less than appropriate to get the job…did you?" he asked, blushing.

"Maxwell Arthur Weasley, how dare you!" Madelyn hissed, feeling herself flush a deep red color. "That is the grossest, rudest thing you've ever said to me! I got the job all on my own, thank you very much."

"I'm sorry," Max replied. "I shouldn't have said that. Of course you got the job all on your own." The three began walking down the street in silence. "Though you could do to button up those two buttons."

Madelyn looked down at the cleavage that was peeked out of the soft pink fabric. She smirked to herself and buttoned them up, turning to her brother with a glare. He looked away from her and they kept walking until they got to the alleyway.

"Who do you want to piggy-back with?" Max asked. "And I highly advise me." Madelyn gave him a look and looked at Kate expectantly.

"Max," Kate said, shrugging apologetically. "You took us to France last time, Maddie."

"That was a treat for you," she replied hotly but shrugged nonetheless. "I have to go tell mum and dad I got a proper job in a magazine."

She left with a whoosh leaving Kate and Max looking at each other silently. Finally, Kate spoke.

"Do we tell her?"

"No…not yet, at least," Max replied anxiously. "We still have to prove it was mum and dad who took the books."

"But, Max it was…" Kate interjected but he held up his hand.

"Kate, just drop it for now, alright?" he snapped, holding out his hand. Kate shut her mouth thinking that if he could see it for himself then maybe he would be more accepting to the idea.

If her parents took those files they would want to have them somewhere where no one would think to look. As Kate and Max Apparated home, Kate thought she knew where her parents may have hidden them.

A/N Read and review. More updates coming soon for all my stories! My internet has been out for seven months and I had to keep using a friend's computer to upload.


	6. Chapter 6

The attic was always closed off, for as long as the three kids could remember. Kate had been up there only once and even that was a vague memory.

When Kate got home the house was filled with excited chatter from the kitchen. Max and Kate hurried over and saw Madelyn talking excitedly with Ron and Hermione.

"He hired me!" she said, sounding as though she were at the end of the explanation. "I mean, he obviously knew the potential I had." She flicked her hair back and turned to Kate with a wink.

"Oh, Madelyn, I'm so proud of you!" Hermione exclaimed, coming over and hugging her tightly. She kissed her cheek. "I think we need some champagne!"

"Yes, please," Madelyn said excitedly. "And," she added, turning to Kate with a wide smile. "I'm not the only one who has good news. Kate, tell them."

There was a long silence that followed Madelyn's words. Kate felt her cheeks flush a brilliant red as she looked at her parents who were in turn staring at her expectedly.

"Kate?" Ron asked after a moment.

"Oh, I…er, I applied for early admissions into Auror training for next summer," Kate mumbled, wanting desperately to turn to her brother. She honestly did not what else to say. The words tumbled from her lips before she could stop them. She couldn't think about anything else without the fear Madelyn would say something that differed that. "I had an interview with Tonks today…"

"And she got it!" Madelyn finished for her.

Hermione let out a shriek and wrapped Kate into a firm hug, crushing her ribs beneath her iron grip.

"That is so wonderful, Kate!" Hermione cried, looking close to tears. Ron kissed the top of her head and smiled down proudly at her, causing Kate to avert her eyes guiltily. She swallowed with some difficulty and accepted the glass of champagne that was handed to her.

They're going to find out I lied, Kate thought to herself. All mum has to do is say something to Tonks…

"To my beautiful daughters," Hermione said holding up her glass of champagne and locking eyes with Ron briefly before clinking hers together with the others and taking a deep, reassuring gulp. She clenched the glass tightly as she suddenly got a vision of Ginny standing in front of her.

"What's the matter, mum?" Max asked, staring at his mother who had gone incredibly pale. She shook her head furiously and turned to Max with a giant smile.

"My girls are just growing up, that's all," Hermione offered, feeling Ron's eyes digging into her painfully.

They continued to go back and forth about what to do. If Ron wanted to tell them, Hermione wanted nothing more than to keep it quiet and if Ron wanted to keep quiet Hermione would feel overwhelming guilt and want to tell.

As of now Ron wanted to tell and Hermione wanted to keep it quiet. She turned to Ron and gave him a defiant look before announcing, "I'll make pancakes and bacon!"

"I'll help," Ron said, following Hermione across the room. "Why don't you kids go set the table and bring out some juice and leftover muffins?"

"Alright, daddy," Madelyn said, feeling a wave of relief crash over her. She couldn't help smiling smugly at Max as she passed. For once her mother said that she was proud of her. She had finally managed to make her mother proud of her.

Sure, she hadn't gotten a Ministry job, which would have been Hermione's first choice, but at least she wasn't a back-up dancer! She had gotten something in the middle; something secure and reliable but at the same time managing to be part of Madelyn's dream job.

"Why did you have to tell mum and dad?" Kate hissed furiously, slamming the cloth napkins onto the table and glaring over at Madelyn. She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"I thought you wanted them to know," she responded with a shrug. "What's the big deal, anyways?"

"Because!" Kate replied, unable to supply a more suitable answer.

"It wasn't yours to tell," Max said after a seconds thought.

Madelyn turned and eyed him briefly before shrugging again, looking a little hurt. "I just thought we were sharing good news-"

"Well we weren't!" Kate snarled. There was silence from Madelyn, who busied herself with setting the plates around the table. "You need to mind your own business, Maddie!"

"I said I was sorry-"

"Just from now own keep out of everyone's business," Max said, giving her a reproving look and setting silver-wear onto napkins.

Madelyn eyed her siblings in turn. She hated when they did this. The two of them were constantly ganging up against her, tag-teaming her. Usually it was when she and Max were fighting and Kate would instantly come to Max's rescue and back him up despite what he was saying or doing. Max was the same.

Madelyn dearly wished her parents had had just one more child that she could team up with. Then at least when she was having a discussion with someone she wouldn't have to worry about being over-whelmed by two angry Weasley's.

"I don't believe either of us asked for opinion," Madelyn hurled at Max. He didn't even look up when he replied, "And I don't believe anyone asked for you to blab to mum and dad about where Kate and I were this morning and you did."

"I don't understand what the big deal is!" Madelyn cried in frustration. "I'm sorry I spilled your secret, alright? Now will you two stop picking on me?"

"Oh, yes, let's all stop picking on poor, dear Madelyn," Max said mockingly. "You surely can dish it out but you can't take it?"

"I didn't dish anything out!" Madelyn cried. "I just-"

"Stuck your nose where it didn't belong," Kate responded her voice cutting through the room like a knife.

"If memory serves correct, Kate, you told mum the news. I didn't force it out of you. You could have made something up."

"Well, unlike you, I'm not a pathological liar and lies don't come as easy to me like they do for you."

Madelyn could feel tears begin to prick her eyes and she threw back her shoulders prepared to fight this out to the death.

"I just thought you might like to share your good news with my good news-"

"Right, because your little job is such a big deal," Kate scoffed, folding a napkin and throwing it onto the plate across the table. "Congratulations you managed to get a job, big deal! It's called growing up. Mum and dad are only happy because they can't wait for you to leave." Kate could feel Madelyn's gaze as though it were pressing down upon her. A little voice in her head was telling her to stop it and leave it alone but before she could comply she said, "At least the rest of us can get jobs without unbuttoning our shirts and showing off our cleavage-"

"Pancakes!" Hermione called, coming through the swinging door, Ron behind her with a sizzling plate of bacon.

"I'm not hungry," Madelyn snapped, stomping out of the room and heading towards the stairs. She ignored Hermione's bewildered look and her cry of, "But, Maddie-!"

Ron looked at his other children to see them looking guiltily down at their hands and knew there had been a fight about something.

"What was that about?" Hermione asked Max, who looked up at her. She frowned at his guilty look and turned to Kate who was wearing an identical expression. "Kate?"

"We were…we had a little fight," she said quietly. Hermione clucked her tongue. Overhead Madelyn's door slammed and a picture on the wall next to them shook slightly.

"A little fight, huh?" she narrowed her eyes at her Kate, who knew it was like a death sentence. "About what?"

"Just…sister stuff," Kate answered, averting her gaze. She couldn't tell her parents why she was mad at Madelyn. Even more she was too ashamed to repeat what she had said to Madelyn.

"Right." Hermione's word hung in the air, allowing Max and Kate to feel the full brunt of her suspicion. "Let's eat. I'll bring some up to her when we're done."

Ron eyed Kate as she sat down. She didn't look him in the eye when he offered her the orange juice. From the time she was a baby Ron had managed to find little mannerisms that she did when she had done something wrong. She had a clump of hair behind her left ear that she tugged on until it was standing completely straight, then wrapped her index finger around it, signaling that she had done something wrong.

"Kate your father and I want to tell you again how proud we are that you're acting so maturely about your future. I can't tell you how happy I am that you got early admissions into the Auror program. Not many seventeen year old girls can say they've gotten that chance!"

Kate's hand flew to her hair as she gave a nervous giggle and responded, "Yes." She took a deep gulp of her orange juice.

Ron watched her silently. The guilt seemed to be radiating off of her at the mere mention of Auror training. If being a father for twenty years taught him anything it was how to pick up when his children were lying to them and his alarm bells were going off with every tug of her hair.

OoOoOo

Madelyn flew into her room, slamming the door over as hard as she could. She flopped onto her bed and screamed into her pillow, tears streaming down her face. She rolled over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling which was covered with family photos.

Gazing quietly at the one of the family in Paris she fixed her gaze upon her brother and sister and felt another wave of anger wash over her.

She wondered what had provoked her sister's outburst and why Max had felt the need to (once again) leap to Kate's defense. She watched with a fresh start of bitterness as Max's arm went around Kate and they smiled down at her as though mocking her.

Madelyn rolled onto her side and dragged her security pillow into a crushing hug. Many children had security blankets that had been bestowed upon them as babies, but Madelyn had a small, worn pillow with fading pink silk with her name weaved across it in fraying gold strands. Madelyn had gotten this the day she was born.

She rubbed her face into the pillow and silently fumed that no one had come to get here or at the very least to see if she wanted some bacon.

Of course they wouldn't, Madelyn thought to herself angrily. They love it when you're not there.

She wondered if they were all making fun of her right now. She wondered if Max was mimicking her and if Kate was retelling the little jab she had made about Madelyn's cleavage.

The shock of it stung Madelyn worse than any curse Kate could have hurled at her. She expected comments like that to come from Max and Max alone but never Kate. Kate never talked to her like that and never insulted her integrity as she had downstairs. Madelyn wondered what could have gotten into her little sister.

Madelyn hugged the pillow tighter and let out a small sob before she stifled it and brushed her hair back from her face.

At that moment she hated the lot of them. She hated her brother for being such an insufferable prick with his I-Know-Better attitude that infuriated Madelyn and the way he talked to her, as if she were the family dog.

She hated Kate for being so damn…_perfect_. Kate could do no wrong in Ron and Hermione's eyes. She was everything they wished Madelyn would be and everything Madelyn could never be. Kate did what her parents wanted without having to be asked. She had secretly gone and gotten herself a Hermione-approved job that could not have made her parents any prouder. And just as Madelyn had suspected Hermione had nearly hit the roof with joy when Kate told her. Madelyn would have thought Kate would have been pleased. If Madelyn came home with a ministry job she would have been excited to tell Ron and Hermione.

Ron and Hermione… Madelyn sighed and closed her eyes, conjuring up a happy image of her parents. They put too much pressure on her, trying to make her something that she wasn't. Madelyn always felt that she was letting them down just by being herself. They never pressured Max like this, though he was their only boy. They sure as hell don't pressure Kate. True, they didn't have to, but still. It was an ever-increasing weight that sat upon Madelyn's shoulders. When she was doing something right, it wasn't right enough and when she was doing something wrong it couldn't be more wrong.

Madelyn sighed heavily, and opened her eyes. She locked eyes on the only good picture of the family. It had been taken just before Ginny's suicide.

The entire family stood in front of the Burrow. It had been taken by a muggle camera and no one had bothered to place the charm on it that would make it move. She let her eyes scan over the familiar faces of her grandparents, aunts and uncles. Max was the oldest Weasley cousin. He was one years old and sitting proudly on Ron's hip. Madelyn smiled as she looked down at Hermione's bulging stomach which was clearly her.

Ron and Hermione didn't know she had this picture. She had found it in the attic one day when Ron and Hermione had taken Kate out to lunch and Max had been doing Merlin knew what with his girlfriend in his bedroom. She had crept silently up the stairs, picked the lock and looked for Hermione's old essays.

She was going to be damned if she was going write an essay on such a wonderful day, especially when she had planned to sneak out and go into the city with her friends. Perhaps that old bat of a professor wouldn't notice she had simply changed the name on the essay. Surely he couldn't think nearly fifteen years back?

There was a dusty box in the corner and when she looked inside of it she saw the picture sitting on top of a dusty pile of old photos and papers. If she had not heard the front door open she would have seen the remaining contents from Ginny's room sitting inside that box.

"Madelyn?" There was a brief knock on the door before her mother entered, a plate of pancakes and bacon in her hand. Madelyn quickly slid the picture under her pillow as Hermione tripped over a shoe. Hermione looked at her tear stained face and pout and set the plate on the bedside table, opening her arms for Madelyn to fall into. She sat down on the bed and let Madelyn's head rest against her shoulder.

"You're really proud, right mum?"

"Of course, darling," Hermione murmured softly into Madelyn's hair. "You always make me proud." Madelyn sniffled. "And no matter what your brother and sister said, you will always make us proud." She nodded against her mother's shoulder.

Hermione kissed the top of her head and smoothed down her hair. Madelyn had the prettiest hair Hermione had ever seen. It was long and sleek and the prettiest shade of red that a person could ever think of.

"Come down in a little while," Hermione instructed as she closed the door over, feeling better when Madelyn nodded assuring at her.

Madelyn turned to the picture and smiled at it, thinking of how young her mother looked and how happy the entire family seemed to be even though the War was still raging on around them.

She placed the picture back on the edge of her bedside table and watched it for a second before grabbing her plate and rolling a pancake around a slice of bacon. She bit into it, her attention still on the picture. She loved seeing her parents when they were young as it reminded Madelyn that they were like her when they were younger…though, not so much Hermione.

Madelyn set her plate down and reached for the orange juice, her arm knocking into the picture, which fell to the floor with a crash.

"Shit!" she hissed, bending down and picking the back of the frame up, the picture and glass staying on the floor. She frowned.

The picture had been folded over at the end. She picked it up and flipped it around and unfolded the worn picture. Her frown deepened as she revealed Harry Potter standing with a broad smile, his arm thrown around Ginny, who had her hand on Bill's shoulder who was crouched in front of her, nearly blocking her from view.

"What the…" she said in confusion. Just then there was another knock on the door and she turned to it sharply. "Who is it?" She turned back to the mess on the floor and looked around for her wand. A small nagging part of her brain was telling her that her parents might not want to know she had this.

"Kate."

"Go away," Madelyn replied instantly, picking up a shirt and looking underneath it in search of her wand. "I don't want to talk to you. I'm too busy stuffing my bra for my first day tomorrow. Come back later."

"Please, Maddie," Kate pleaded through the door. Madelyn turned to it huffily as she heard the door handle turn. Kate entered looking sheepish. "I brought you this." She extended her hands to show three fresh chocolate cookies still steaming from the oven. Despite her anger Madelyn found her mouth water in defiance of her mind. She shifted her weight and moved her hand too far to the left and let out a small cry as her finger was sliced open by a piece of glass.

"Are you alright?" Kate asked, placing the plate of cookies on the bed and bending down to see Madelyn's hand.

"I'm fine," she replied moodily, sucking her finger into her hand. She spotted her wand by the door and got up to get it. She turned back and saw Kate pick up the picture and silently pull back the bent area, revealing Harry.

"Maddie…" Kate said softly. "Where did you get this?"

"I don't know," Madelyn replied, "the attic maybe? I can't really remember. Why?" She noticed the sudden change in her sister's mood and despite her anger she was curious. "Hello? Earth to Kate!"

"The attic? When did you get into the attic?"

"Like, I don't know, three years ago?" Madelyn replied, waving her wand and silently removing the glass from the floor. "Again, why?"

"How did you get in there? Mum's got that sealed shut." The attic had been Hermione's office for a while until she got tired of the creaky stairs and drafty winters. However, most of her old files were still locked up inside of the room.

"I just picked the lock," Madelyn replied with a small shrug. "It didn't stop me from going up there. I think-Hey!" she cried as Kate shoved past her and opened the door, glancing around quickly to insure her mother was not roaming the hallway. "Where are you-?"

"Quiet," Kate hissed softly, stepping onto the hardwood floor as silently as she could. Madelyn watched the back of her sister's head with a growing sense of irritation. She had come up to her room and instead of apologizing she had been far more interested in a moldy old picture.

"What are you doing?"

"Shh," Kate replied, turning to Madelyn with a glare. "Just be _quiet_!" She walked down the hallway to the banister overlooking the main hall and part of the living room and kitchen. She peered over it, catching a glimpse of her mother's bushy hair as she methodically went around the room tidying it up.

"Alright," Kate said, coming back and eying Madelyn silently. "Can you do me a favor?"

"No," Madelyn replied immediately. "I don't know what you're going on about and my big boobs didn't like your lack of an apology."

"Oh, Maddie! You know I'm sorry!" Kate snapped.

"It wouldn't hurt you to say so," Madelyn replied moodily. She folded her arms and waited for Kate to do so.

"I'm sorry, Madelyn," she replied. "I shouldn't have said anything like that about you. It was completely uncalled for."

"Thank you," Madelyn replied satisfied and unfolded her arms, her body language changing drastically. "What do you need me to do?"

OoOoOo

Ron was just sitting down to spend a relaxing afternoon reading the paper, studying the Quidditch scores from rival teams and sipping butterbeer by the crate. However when the sudden, house-shaking bang sounded through the house, causing pictures on the wall to fall to the ground with a smash, his plans for a relaxing afternoon were dashed.

"What the hell was that?" Hermione cried, running into the living room, gazing at her husband as though he were the one that did it. "It's coming from the basement…"

"Great…" Ron muttered, throwing down the paper and leading the way towards the basement which was currently hemorrhagingsmoke. Ron held out his wand as Hermione clutched his arm painfully hard.

They heard faint coughs coming from within the smoke. Ron inched forward, Hermione holding onto him as tightly as possible, causing Ron to toss her an annoyed look. She instantly let go and slipped her wand out from her back pocket.

"Who's down there?" Hermione called. Ron raised his eyebrows at her. "What?"

"Just let them know we're coming, why don't you," he muttered.

"As if they wouldn't know," Hermione snapped. "You'd have to be in a coma to ignore that explosion."

Ron went down only one stair when two red heads came running up the stairs each holding their hands over their mouths. Ron looked at his eldest children questioningly as they tried desperately to get the smoke out of their lungs.

"Explain. Now." His voice was firm and commanding, causing Max to miss a beat in breathing.

"Madelyn can't concoct a potion to save her arse, that's what happened," he said, still coughing. "I was trying to test out the cauldron's we picked up in that old warehouse and I asked her to make a potion in it and…" He gestured at the smoke coming out of the basement.

"What were you trying to make?" Hermione asked, fanning the smoke away from her face. She was bewildered that Max had asked for Madelyn's help and even more surprised she accepted. Also, Madelyn with a cauldron was never exactly a reassuring sight unless she was putting it away.

"I don't know, really," Madelyn replied with a careless shrug. "I just thought if I could add anything to the water then-"

"You put water in the cauldron?" Hermione asked.

"Wasn't I supposed to?" Madelyn tried to hide her smile as her parents continued to look from their children to the basement in dismay.

It had been quite easy to come up with a plan of "attack" as Kate called it. Madelyn went down to Max's room and gave him the very cryptic message of, "Kate needs to do something about the thing and she wants you and me to cause a distraction." Max obviously knew what she was talking about because after only a minute of thought he grabbed her hand and they crept downstairs into the basement.

"Add the frog's toe when I say to," Max had instructed, looking at the book swiftly. "Ok, now." As he had hoped the potion went from the correct blue to a ghastly shade of orange. "Now, put the…No! Not that! We don't want to blow the house up."

Madelyn wasn't fond of potion making. In a perfect world she could just throw random things into the cauldron and it would come out perfect. Also in a perfect world she would be blonde with blue eyes, bigger boobs and smaller thighs. Oh, and she would be engaged to Dugan Mulroy.

"What about this?" Madelyn asked, poised to drop it into the cauldron. Max eyed it quickly before saying, "Yeah, alright. Just a pinch, though." Madelyn put a pinch in, though much of it stuck to her finger, so she added another pinch which was really just a few specs, so she added another pinch and the potion imploded with smoke.

"Madelyn, what did you add?" Max bellowed, trying to find the book through all the smoke that was currently spilling out of the potion.

"What you told me to!" she cried, coughing heavily. "Ugh, I can't breathe in here! How much longer?"

"I don't know. We needed to make a distraction…not a cancerous environment. Hand me the ladle so I can-"

Madelyn's hand knocked into a vial, which dropped into the potion with a small 'plink!' It was a full second before Max said, "What was that?" and the potion exploded with a bang. Madelyn threw her hands up and felt herself fly back, landing with a painful thud against a bookshelf. Her back seared with pain.

"Way to go, chief!" Max called a minute later. "You're lucky you didn't kill us, you idiot!"

"You _said_ make a distraction!" Madelyn snarled, heaving herself up and coughing uncontrollably. "I'm sure mum and dad-"

"Who's down there?" Hermione's voice radiated through the smoke and met Madelyn's ears. Max could almost feel her smirk across the room.

"Shut up," he hissed, coughing into his hand. "Let's get out of here…quickly." Together they ran up the stairs until they could see the sunlight streaming in from the kitchen windows. Max knocked into Ron's shoulder in his haste to get away from the smoke invading his lungs.

They explained to their parents what had happened downstairs. Hermione looked quite horrified when Max admitted he had let Madelyn even look at a cauldron.

"I'm so sorry," Madelyn said, still coughing. She turned to her mother with an award-worthy look, big, fat tears threatening to spill over her eyes onto her cheeks. Hermione pursed her lips and looked at Ron as though for help.

He looked at the ceiling and shook his head as though to ask, "What am I going to do with these kids?" before giving Hermione a smile that clearly said, "Lucky us, huh?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's alright, you didn't mean too, right?" Madelyn nodded a slight flush coming to her cheeks. "There then. No worries. Ron, help me…"

They went down the stairs and cleared the smoke out as quickly as possible. Once done Hermione glanced around the room to make sure no major damage had been done. She started when she saw that the top windows had been blown out. A giant scorch mark covered the wall to her left.

"I can't even imagine what the neighbors must be thinking," Hermione said to Ron, waving her wand and repairing the windows. Ron was by the wall attempting to get the scorch mark out. He eyed it and then shook his head. "I hope the fire department isn't called again," Hermione said, referring to the numerous times a potion or spell had signaled the neighbors to call the police or fire department. To add to that the nearest neighbor was all the way down the path, almost a half mile away.

Hermione turned towards the stairs, something nagging almost painfully on her brain. She looked around wondering if she had missed something. She frowned and picked up a fallen book. The books from the bookshelf lay on the floor. With a wave of her wand they were back in their rightful place.

Suddenly, it came to her.

Kate hadn't come down when she heard the explosion.

"Ron, where's Kate?"

"I don't know," he replied, frowning in frustration at the muck that wouldn't come off the walls. "What kind of potion was this?" he muttered to himself. "Only Madelyn…"

"She didn't come down when the potion exploded," Hermione said, her voice rising to gain her husband's attention. He turned to her.

"So?"

"So," Hermione snarled, "that explosion rocked the entire house! Surely she had felt it. Why wouldn't she come down to see what have happened?"

"Unless she was taking advantage of the distraction…"

Hermione nodded and rushed towards the stairs, hearing Ron right behind her. They got to the top of the stairs and glanced around for her eldest children, who were standing by the counter looking at the basement door.

"Where are you-?" Madelyn asked as they rushed past them.

"Shit," Max muttered softly and raised his wand, tapping the little gold coin in his hand. He silently prayed that Kate would feel it.

OoOoOo

Kate knew better than to wait for the distraction to go up into the attic. Even if it was as bad as she hoped it was Hermione could have it fixed within minutes. So, as soon as she heard her siblings go downstairs she walked down the silent hall to the attic door. It was closed, as it always was. In all of her memories it had been only opened once.

It was only a vague recollection but she could still feel the carpet beneath her bare feet and the dampness of her hair fresh from the shower. She couldn't have been any older than five. As she went up the stairs she heard low voices talking and immediately recognized her mother and father. They turned towards her as soon as she reached the last step, Hermione's eyes filled with startled fear. Ron had come and scooped Kate into his arms and carried her over his shoulder until they reached the second floor.

"Remember what mummy and I talked to you about?" he whispered. Kate could remember that his breath smelt faintly of Sugarquills, his secret obsession. "You're not supposed to come up here. Be a good girl and go downstairs with your brother. He'll read you a story if you ask him." Ron smiled at her and she was comforted.

Kate had nodded obediently and walked down the hall. She turned at the beginning of the stairs to look at her father. His smile was gone from his face.

Now, nearly twelve years later, Kate crouched down at the door and peered inside the key hole. She could just barely make out the first steps, some light on the very last one she could see.

Kate reached into her back pocket and took out the small hair pin and bent it into a more usable shape. She stuck it into the lock and stuck her tongue out slightly, squinting her eyes closed in concentration.

After a frustrating moment something clicked. Kate glanced at the door handle hopefully and turned it. It turned all the way and when she pulled on it the door opened with a loud creak. She winced and looked over her shoulder before hurrying up the stairs.

The room gave her the creeps. She hurried up the stairs and glanced around quickly. She wished there was a box labeled, 'Incriminating evidence' or 'Here, Kate, look no further' but there wasn't. She timidly opened a drawer to the old desk finding nothing but broken quills. On the desk top was an empty inkwell and old parchment along with an assortment of folders jam-packed with papers. Kate opened one and glanced at the top paper to see it written in a different language. She frowned and closed the folder and peered around the room.

In the corner, like Madelyn said, sat an old looking box that seemed to be sagging at the edges as though the weight of it's contents were overwhelming. Kate hurried towards it and bent down in front of it, her hands flying to the top of the box and opening the flaps to the side.

Whatever she had been expecting, it wasn't this. She thought perhaps there would be a box filled with various birth certificates or pictures of Ginny with a baby. Kate sifted through the box quickly.

She jumped considerably when the floor vibrated and alerted her to the fact that Madelyn and Max had made a distraction. She hurried up. The clock has just started and she gave herself no more than five more minutes before Hermione and Ron were done. Though they may not know she was in here she didn't want the chance that they would see her coming out of the room.

Just as Kate was about to stop going through the box her hand grazed something leathery. She stuck her hand in further and yanked out an old, worn journal with a leather cover on the front. She frowned and opened it silently.

A picture slid out of it and onto Kate's lap. She looked down at it and felt herself gasp. There was a picture of the four of them. Ginny had her head resting on Harry's shoulder, while he laughed at something. Ginny was beaming into the camera, her smile radiating through the barrier. Next to them were Ron and Hermione. They weren't as affectionate as Ron and Hermione, but Kate couldn't mistake that Hermione was not looking at Ron with anything other than love, which he seemed to reciprocate. This picture too hadn't been magicked and Kate found herself wondering when it had been taken. She flipped it over to see a small scrawling signature towards the bottom.

_Bill and Fleur's Wedding. August, 1997._

Kate ran her fingers over her mother's face, so young and not yet riddled with the guilt that Ginny would place on them. Kate found herself frowning.

Ginny and Harry looked unbelievably happy with each other. What could have made Ginny give up her child?

Coming back to her senses Kate looked down at the journal in her hand and opened it. The pages were old and worn and despite this Kate found herself flipping through them eagerly. They were filled with black writing and seemed to be never ending.

She closed the book and set it on her lap as she placed her hand back into the box in search of something else. She realized that this must have been the last of Ginny's belongings. She wondered briefly why Ron and Hermione had them and then she got it. They obviously thought that one day they would have to confess to their daughter and they wanted to have something to show her, whoever it may be.

The coin in Kate's pocket burned and she jumped and started, glancing around to make sure that everything was in order. The placed everything back into the box and sprinted to the stairs and running down them quickly. She got into the hallway and closed the door over, sticking the pin into the lock and moving it around.

"Come on!" she growled. She heard her parents hurrying down the hall towards the stairs. Finally it gave a reassuring click and she turned, unsure of what to do. Surely her parents thought she had been where she had been and she couldn't very well get caught.

Kate sprinted into her room and closed the door over. Opening her third drawer she shoved the journal and picture under some clothes and glanced around the room frantically. There was a knock on the door just as Kate spotted a pink towel lying in the corner. She quickly bent down and picked it up, wrapping it up in her hair just as she called, "Come in!"

The door opened slowly and to reveal her parents staring at her as though they expected her to burst into an apology.

"What was that bang?" she asked, hoping her face wasn't flushed and that the tremor she thought she heard in her voice wasn't there. "I was in the shower and I thought I felt the ground shake and got out and got dressed…I was washing my hair and had to get the rest of the shampoo out." There. That was a viable excuse.

There was silence. Hermione was watching her daughter's face looking for any sign that she was fibbing. Ron said, "Your brother and sister cocked up a potion."

"Ron, language!" Hermione snapped, getting distracted. She gave Ron a glare and turned back to Kate. "We just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Kate knew she was lying. She knew Hermione was hoping to catch her in the attic rifling away through a box. For her part, Hermione seemed quite relieved that Kate didn't tread into the attic.

"I'm fine." Luckily, her hair was tied tight in the towel or her hand would have shot to the one patch of hair.

"Ok." Ron watched her closely. She didn't seem to be lying, though he couldn't tell with her anymore. "We'll leave you alone, then."

Ron and Hermione waited for her door to close over before Hermione said, "I think she's lying."

"Me too," Ron replied.

They went towards the bathroom as though expecting an answer to their suspicions, though as they got closer they saw the steam streaming from the room.

"Oh," they said dumbly. Kate wouldn't have had enough time to steam the shower and get back to her room before Hermione and Ron got upstairs.

"I guess she wasn't lying," Hermione said slowly with a small shrug. Ron was incredibly relieved. He didn't want Kate finding anything in the attic that would lead her to ask questions.

"Still," Ron said but Hermione had already read his mind and raised her wand and cast a spell on the door. "You read my mind."

"I know," Hermione said, smiling happily at him. "Let's go for a walk."

"Alright," Ron said, taking her hand and leading her down the stairs. As he went he turned towards the attic door with a frown. He thought there was something he missed but Hermione tugged him along and within ten minutes it was forgotten.

Luckily for Kate he didn't see the hairpin sticking out from the lock.

A/N: Nothing really happening, happening in this chapter but much more to come! We are steadily reaching the climactic confrontation between Kate and her parents.


End file.
